Network Costs 2026: Here It Will Get Really Expensive Next Year

The grid costs will rise slightly for electricity and significantly for gas in 2026. The regulatory authority E-Control announced the corresponding regulations on Thursday. For electricity, the grid fees for households will increase on average by 1.3 percent, and for gas by 18.2 percent. In some grid areas, there were minimal changes compared to the draft regulations presented in October.

Grid fees for gas in Carinthia rise significantly

For electricity, the grid fees decrease slightly in Vorarlberg, Carinthia, Vienna, and Styria, and significantly in Salzburg by around 9 percent. They increase the most in Lower Austria by 6.9 percent, in Tyrol by 10.9 percent, and in Burgenland by 15.9 percent.

For gas, the grid fees increase the most in Carinthia, namely by 35 percent. For an average customer with an annual gas consumption of 15,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), this means additional costs of around 142 euros per year. In Lower Austria, the gas grid fees rise by 30.6 percent, in Styria by 27.7 percent, and in Burgenland by 25 percent. They increase the least, by 6.5 percent, in Upper Austria.

Electricity costs rise less

The regulatory authority responsible for energy, E-Control, determines each year how much network operators are allowed to charge per kilowatt hour (kWh). The exact fees vary depending on the network operator. To determine the amount of network fees, the network operators report their expenses for the electricity and gas networks to E-Control. This includes, for example, new developments, maintenance and repairs, but also meter reading, administration, and especially the operation of the network.

The costs are then passed on to the customers. For electricity, consumption has not decreased further after the crisis years, which means that the network costs have been distributed over a similar number of kilowatt hours as in the previous year. Additionally, additional revenues, such as from cross-border electricity transit, dampen the increase in network costs in 2026.

No Trend Reversal for Gas

For gas, however, the consumed quantities continued to decrease, which is why the network costs are distributed over fewer and fewer kilowatt hours. A trend reversal is unlikely for gas, as the phase-out of gas and the higher winter temperatures due to climate change will lead to decreasing gas consumption in the coming years. Additionally, Austria is no longer a gas transit country due to the Russian war against Ukraine.

Also announced on Thursday was the regulation for the green electricity subsidy contribution for 2026. This is about 20 percent lower compared to 2025. An average household with 3,500 kilowatt hours of electricity consumption saves approximately five euros per year.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.