Overview
- About 4.2 million people, or 5.0% of the population, lived in 2024 in households in arrears on electricity or gas bills, with 6.4% of renters affected versus 3.4% of owner-occupiers.
- Household energy prices were 2.3% lower year on year in August 2025 yet remain elevated after the 2022 surge, while housing service charges rose 4.0% over the same period.
- Wholesale markets logged a record 457 hours of negative electricity prices in 2025, including a low of minus €0.25/kWh on May 11, but most households cannot capture these dips without dynamic tariffs and smart meters.
- Smart-meter penetration was about 2% at the end of 2024, limiting uptake of flexible pricing even as the power exchange shifts to quarter-hour pricing on October 1, 2025.
- Large gaps between default and competitor tariffs have spurred strong switching, with Verivox estimating roughly 10 million households overpay about €5.5 billion per year and new-customer offers averaging around €0.27/kWh this week.