Electricity fees rise nationally, with sharp state gaps
Verivox calculations based on the grid operators' published data show electricity grid fees rising by an average of 1.9% nationwide at the turn of the year to 2027. For a three-person household using 4,000 kilowatt-hours a year, the average rises from 428 euros to 436 euros gross, an increase of 8 euros. The regional picture varies widely. In Saarland electricity grid fees climb 7.8%, or 38 euros, far above the national average, while Hesse sees a 2.7% increase, about 12 euros gross. Rhineland-Palatinate is the exception, with fees falling 0.7%, or roughly 4 euros gross, against the national trend. Across the old federal states electricity grid fees are expected to rise by an average of 10 euros, while in the new states they fall by an average of 3 euros. Hamburg records the steepest electricity increase.
Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox, said regional fees depend on the cost of building and running local power grids.
How high grid fees turn out also depends on the costs of expanding and operating the regional power grids.
Storck also pointed to a policy change: since 2025, regions that generate a lot of wind and solar power receive relief.
Federal subsidy cut behind higher transmission costs
The main cause of rising fees, according to Verivox, is a shrinking federal contribution to transmission grid costs. In 2026 the federal government provided 6.5 billion euros from the Climate and Transformation Fund, while 5.525 billion euros is planned for 2027. That is a fall of 15%, and the reduction amounts to just under one billion euros. Transmission grid operators bill these costs to the operators of lower-voltage distribution networks, and the charges appear under grid fees on household electricity bills. Despite the billions in state subsidies, the electricity grid fee burden is therefore still rising nationally.
Gas grid fees and regional differences
Gas grid fees are set to rise by about 3% nationally, which Verivox puts at 19 euros a year for a single-family home using 20,000 kilowatt-hours. Rhineland-Palatinate sees a 4.4% increase, or 27 euros, while Hesse sees 3.7%, or 20 euros, and Saarland 2.6%, also 19 euros. Above-average increases are expected in Berlin, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Brandenburg, while Saxony and Thuringia see slight declines. Verivox links the gas increase to the drop in gas consumption in Germany since the loss of Russian pipeline gas in 2022, which spreads the grid costs across fewer kilowatt-hours.
Wholesale prices and expected supplier increases
Wholesale prices, which have risen sharply since the start of the Iran war, are the larger pressure on household heating bills. Storck said the increase in gas grid fees would have little influence compared with those wholesale price jumps. He expects nationwide price increases at the turn of the year, as gas suppliers pass on higher procurement costs to their customers. He said the size of those increases will depend on each customer's current tariff.
They will range between 10 and 20 percent depending on the current tariff.
The figures show that households face higher network charges in 2027, with the largest electricity rise in Saarland and the largest gas rise in Rhineland-Palatinate.