Pay less for electricity at lunchtime and more in the evening: Are dynamic tariffs also worthwhile in Saxony?

From George Moeritz

Dresden. A different electricity price every hour, decreasing and increasing depending on price developments on the Leipzig electricity exchange - in future, such tariffs will also be available on request from energy suppliers in Saxony. Envia-M in Chemnitz has introduced a "dynamic green electricity tariff" for private customers, while Leipziger Stadtwerke is planning a similar model for July. The smaller municipal utilities in Saxony will follow suit by January at the latest. Who will benefit? An overview.

What are dynamic electricity tariffs for?

Most electricity tariffs only quote a single fixed price for every kilowatt hour consumed, and this applies at any time of day or night. At Sachsen-Energie, for example, this is around 37 cents gross in the Dresdner Strom private tariff. On the electricity exchange, however, electricity prices fluctuate for professionals who still need to purchase energy for the coming days. This is because less and less electricity is constantly coming from large power plants that burn coal around the clock. More and more electricity is coming from solar plants, which deliver the highest yield around midday. This is when electricity is cheapest, at least in good weather. Supply and demand have to balance each other out. Anyone who wants to take advantage of such price fluctuations and run electrical appliances as cheaply as possible should be interested in dynamic, flexible tariffs.

How is the new tariff calculated?

The regional supplier Envia-M in Chemnitz recently started offering a tariff called "Mein Strom Vision". Last year, interested parties could at least register, but details had not yet been finalized. The consumption price per kilowatt hour consists largely of the usual fixed components, including taxes and grid fees. The smaller part of the price is variable. Envia-M buys a portion of the electricity on the electricity exchange at daily prices and uses this to calculate its sales prices for this tariff for the coming day. Envia-M publishes these prices every day at 1 p.m. with details for each individual hour of the coming day.

What does flexible electricity cost?

The fixed components, such as government levies, make up the largest part of the price. The variable price component depends on supply and demand - and increasingly on the weather. If all the wind turbines are in operation and the solar panels are lit, then electricity is cheaper for the same demand than at night or when there is no wind. On Thursday of this week, Envia-M charged between 23.6 cents and 40.8 cents gross per kilowatt hour. The lowest price was available between 2 and 3 p.m. and 24.8 cents in the following hour. The highest price was between 8 and 9 pm. The price was also comparatively low at night from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., after which it rose again. According to Envia-M, a typical private customer with a "standard profile" would have paid a total of 26.4 cents per kilowatt hour in May and 27.5 cents in January. That would be considerably less than the company's usual tariff for household electricity.

Who can book the new tariffs?

If you want to take advantage of hourly changing prices, you can't use an old three-phase meter. Most suppliers require an intelligent measuring system called a "smart meter", which can report the exact consumption to the supplier via the Internet. Envia-M is also happy with a digital meter. The company also offers an app called iona, which displays prices by the hour. Envia-M only offers its tariff in its grid area, which includes Saxony outside the area of Sachsen-Energie and the municipal utilities, as well as parts of Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Thuringia. Supra-regional providers, on the other hand, are courting customers everywhere. Leipziger Stadtwerke also wants to offer its dynamic tariff everywhere from July.

Is it worth putting off doing the laundry?

At first glance, it seems tempting to run the washing machine at lunchtime rather than in the evening and thus perhaps pay ten to twelve cents less per kilowatt hour. However, even with a very old machine, a wash cycle costs a maximum of 1.20 euros according to the supplier Badenova, and around 24 cents for a new one. If you want to wash economically, you should pay particular attention to the water temperature and choose washing cycles with low power consumption. Of course, the machine can be pre-programmed with a timer for a convenient time, but you still need to fit the washing into your daily routine. You may also want to load a dryer after washing - and then electricity will be more expensive again. If you make things too complicated for yourself, you won't last long. This also applies to cooking and baking. Larger sums can be saved when charging an electric car if this can be done flexibly. The flexible tariffs are likely to be of particular interest to homeowners with an electric car, heat pump and an interest in technology.

Who offers dynamic electricity tariffs?

In Saxony, Envia-M is the first provider to advertise its dynamic tariff to private providers and show detailed price charts on the Internet. Supra-regional providers have been active for some time, such as Tibber, whose offer is also marketed via the ADAC. Sachsen-Energie in Dresden and Stadtwerke München are among the providers that are reticent and only provide dynamic tariffs on request. Sachsen-Energie spokeswoman Viola Martin-Mönnich said that such offers require a lot of consultation. The company is currently working on offering an "attractive dynamic electricity tariff including visualization of consumption and exchange prices". Stadtwerke Leipzig plans to launch this in July. From January, all suppliers will be legally obliged to do so and will offer various models. Eins Energie in Chemnitz says it is "working intensively on implementing a tariff solution as a pilot project for mass production".

What is the difference to other special tariffs?

Some municipal utilities have long offered different day and night prices for heat storage. Stadtwerke Döbeln, for example, charges 34.05 cents during the day and 31.02 cents at night for heat storage electricity. A separate tariff is also available there for e-mobility. Tibber advertises with "smart charging" because the electric car can be charged automatically when the price is cheapest. Octopus Energy also offers a charging tariff for electric cars. The company Eins Energie in Saxony, which emerged from Stadtwerke Chemnitz, offers a heat pump electricity tariff with a separate meter and writes on its website that the general demand for electricity is low at night and therefore the price is lower. However, the text is probably not up to date and does not take into account the cheap midday solar power.

Will the new tariffs contribute to the energy transition?

Envia-M Sales Director Patrick Kather says that those who shift their consumption to times when there is a lot of wind and solar power are actively contributing to the energy transition. After all, low prices are supposed to provide an incentive to use electricity when it is available in abundance. Otherwise, on some days even wind turbines have to be stopped as long as there is not enough electricity storage available. The supplier Vattenfall, formerly operator of the lignite plants in Saxony and now electricity supplier in Berlin and Hamburg, writes on its website that the dynamic tariffs are a "contribution to relieving the burden on the electricity grid".

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the new tariffs?

Dynamic tariffs can save money, especially for frequent consumers such as electric car drivers. However, they may have to change their behavior - charging and driving at different times than planned or letting the computer control the charging time. The companies also do not guarantee that savings will be made. Envia-M warns that there are "both opportunities and risks". The consumption price fluctuates daily and could also spike sharply - as in the fall of 2022, when natural gas storage facilities threatened to empty. In this case, customers would probably try to cancel this tariff as quickly as possible and would then have to pay the price for the basic supply. When signing the contract, it is important to note how long the notice periods are - and whether the grid operator has the right to reduce electricity consumption if necessary. The grid operator Sachsen-Netze in eastern Saxony, for example, can already temporarily reduce the charging capacity to 60 percent for customers on the tariff for electric vehicles in order to relieve the strain on the grids at peak times.