Study: This is how households would benefit from a reduction in electricity taxes

The federal government is thinking about reducing electricity taxes for everyone. In a study, the comparison portal Verivox calculated what effect this would have on the electricity bill.

According to a calculation by the comparison portal Verivox, the reduction in electricity tax for everyone aimed at by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) would relieve private households of around three billion euros per year. The reduction would reduce the electricity bills of private households by an average of around seven percent, said Verivox in Heidelberg.

Verivox bases its calculation on a self-determined average electricity price for household customers of 34.36 cents per kilowatt hour (including basic price) and a total annual consumption of all households of around 130 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). According to the Energy Balances Working Group, in 2025 it was 132.5 billion kilowatt hours.

Merz had announced that the CDU in the federal government wanted to work to reduce electricity taxes for everyone to the European minimum. There could be scope for this if growth solidifies and becomes more stable. The Union and SPD had agreed on the reduction for everyone in the coalition agreement, but initially only implemented it for some economic sectors.

The European minimum is 0.1 cents per kilowatt hour. The electricity tax in Germany, introduced in 1999, is currently 2.05 cents per kilowatt hour. The difference is 1.95 cents per kilowatt hour. Because a reduction in electricity tax would also result in less VAT, Verivox comes to a new average price of 32.04 cents per kilowatt hour, around 2.32 cents per kWh less than currently.

According to the calculations, this would mean an average relief of 93 euros for a three-person household with an annual consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours. According to Verivox, a couple household with a consumption of 2,800 kWh could expect a relief of around 65 euros, a single household (1,500 kWh) with around 35 euros.