Hi,

I have been in Germany since last month and I’m moving into a new apartment next week. I was browsing [check24.de](https://check24.de) for various electricity tariffs and I can see the price for Neckarsulm (74172) is around **72 Euros/Month** for the usage calculated for 1 person (1450 kWh/Year).

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I can see connections such as EnBw and Vattenfall which have rates as mentioned above.

Then I browsed some connections outside check24 and I could see connections such as Suewag [https://www.suewag.de/privatkunden/produkte-tarife#footnotesdetailsuewag-naturstrom-relax-gv](https://www.suewag.de/privatkunden/produkte-tarife#footnotesdetailsuewag-naturstrom-relax-gv)

They are quoting a rate of around **48 Euros/Month** for the same usage requirements.

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My doubt is whether the above connection has any ‘catch’ for being so much cheaper than the ones that I found on check24. A discount of 20 Euros per month seems very attractive. Can I trust the prices? Or Will be there any hidden charges associated with them?

Why are the costs so diverse?

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Thanks in advance.

4 comments

  1. Most of the time the cheaper ones charge upfront

    If they go bankrupt your money is gone and you have to pay for electricity again

  2. Check for price guarantees and how long you’re bound by a contract. Energy prices are skyrocketing right now and with some contracts you will get something like a two year contract that also guarantees no price increase for that time. If one contract is much cheaper it might be that they don’t guarantee a consistent price and they might raise prices at any point. You should be able to cancel the contract then I think, but better check about that.

    In general you won’t ever be out of power in Germany (unless you don’t pay for a long period), there are companies that will automatically provide you with energy if your chosen provider can’t do that. In my experience those basic providers aren’t especially expensive, they’re usually somewhere in the middle of the price range. So other than manybe having the hassle of changing a couple of times and if it comes to the worst paying twice for one month I don’t see much of a risk in going with the cheap one

  4. Before signing a new contract, you should check the rates of your “Grundversorgung” (basic services).

    Energy markets are crazy these days, and some offers are heavily overpriced.

    EnBW is the “Grundversorger” in your city and they are charging 31,73ct/kWh and 11,83€ per Month. So you’ll pay about 600€ per year (or 50€ per month).

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