Rejoice! Finally, some good news when it comes to bills. According to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the average annual energy bill for households will be 1.574 euros this year, based on prices from January. That’s 170 euros cheaper than in January 2019, with the same usage!

Cheaper energy bills

This means that energy bills are on average 9,7 percent cheaper than they were a year ago. Of course, there is the matter of energy bills going up by 19 percent last January. So, yes, the bills will be cheaper, but they were already more expensive. Moreover, there are still big differences between households for energy bills, depending on usage.

To compare energy prices for 2019 and 2020, an average annual energy consumption of 2.450 kWh of electricity and 1.197 m3 of natural gas was used. By keeping the usage the same, the differences in energy bill prices can wholly be attributed to the changes in energy tariffs.

The biggest difference for energy bills this year, compared to last year, is the amount of energy tax credit households receive. Last year, households got 311 euros of energy tax credit taken off of their bill. This year, that amount has shot up to 527 euros, regardless of how much your bill is.

Energy taxes explained

While this might seem like a huge jump - and even more so since the energy tax on electricity has also decreased - taxes on gas and the storage of renewable energy (ODE) have gone up. With the higher ODE tax you'll be paying 22 euros more per year, with average usage, and the higher energy tax on gas amounts to around 94 euros per year. Overall, therefore, the average household will pay only around 100 euros less in energy tax than in 2019. 

At the same time, supply tariffs have also gone down: on average, the supply of electricity has gotten 5,8 percent cheaper than last year and gas is down by as much as 12,6 percent. These changes will decrease the average energy bill by 81 euros. 

Transport, on the other hand, got a little more expensive in January - amounting to around 10 euros per year. So, there you have it: In total, the average energy bill will be around 170 euros cheaper this year.

How much less you’ll actually be paying depends on how much energy you use. As the energy tax credit applies to all households equally, it goes without saying that the less energy you use the more you’ll benefit from a lower bill.