To cope with the increase in prices for the consumers, the negotiations of the “Tripartite” led to the agreement of September 2022, in which one of the measures was to limit the increase in gas prices to 15% compared to the average price of September 2022.
This part of the agreement was translated into national law by the Law of December 2, 2022 which determines a price capped at €0.8325 per m3 of natural gas consumed for customers with a gas meter of a maximum hourly flow of less than 65 cubic meters.
In practice, the supplier continues to display its prices as before. Given that the suppliers offer several products, each with its own selling price, the ceiling is applied in relation to a so-called “basic” offer, namely the product of the supplier with the most subscribed customers.
In other words, the State will cover the price difference between the basic offer and the ceiling of €0.8325 per m3.
It should be noted that the prices displayed by the suppliers may be “integrated” prices, containing part of the network costs. For the purpose of determining the State contribution, it is therefore necessary to only consider the price of the supply, excluding network costs and excluding all taxes and levies.
In the event that the displayed price of the basic offer is higher than the capped price, the difference between these two prices constitutes the maximum payment by the State. However, for customers who have not subscribed to the basic offer (such as customers of products offering green attributes), it is likely to pay slightly more than the ceiling. Indeed, these products are generally more expensive than the basic offer, while the State support is limited as described above.
On your invoice you will see these different price elements. The supplier invoices his published energy prices and deducts the State contribution separately on the invoice.
It should also be noted that the network costs have been entirely borne by the State since May 2022.
As with the energy price cap, this measure affects customers having a gas meter with a maximum hourly flow of less than 65 m3 (categories 1 and 2).
On your invoice you will find a line containing a negative amount which cancels these network cost. The network tariffs themselves are made up of a volume component paid per m3 of natural gas consumed, as well as of metering charges. For category 2 customers, there is in addition a capacity component, billed on the basis of installed capacity.