Energy companies are charging hundreds of euros more to people with solar panels who use the net-metering scheme. However, aren't these costs far too high to cover this? This is what the regulator ACM is going to investigate.
Meanwhile, energy companies are charging hefty extra fees to customers with solar panels, according to a calculation conducted by Keuze.nl on behalf of the newspaper. These feed-in costs are charged by more and more energy companies. With the extension of the net-metering scheme, more and more companies will also start charging these costs to customers with solar panels. This is because the balancing scheme costs power companies hands full of money. This is because the surplus power in the summer is cheaper than the relatively scarce power in the winter.
'Vandebron charges over 125 euros more for 2450kWh of electricity to be netted than the electricity actually costs'
Comparison site Keuze.nl calculated what it costs energy companies to balance. An average Dutch family with solar panels that generates 3500kWh, consumes about 30% of that immediately itself. The remaining 70% goes into the electricity grid. That 70% produced in ze summer is not worth much money and sometimes even has a negative value. To supply energy to customers during the winter, at the more expensive times, the power company spends an average of 126.40 euros per year. This is significantly less than the feed-in charge. Companies that use other methods to recover additional costs from customers with solar panels sometimes end up considerably higher. For example, energy company Mega gives no loyalty premium of 388 euros and "earns" 261 euros from the balancing customer. Coolblue uses a combination of a higher fixed rate and a lower cashback, leaving honor at the bottom of the line of 128 euros after buying energy. Yet energy companies deny that they earn from it. Regulatory body ACM cannot prohibit charging feed-in tariffs.
Source: The Gelderlander