Do suppliers have to adjust the advance payment if prices fall? Then also when the price goes up internal

Party leader Melissa Debrettere (Vooruit) reiterated Vooruit’s desire to require energy suppliers to reduce billings submitted now that wholesale energy prices have fallen during question time in the room today. They also provide an invoice for this. According to Depraetere, families are currently not feeling the decline in electricity and gas prices due to lack of follow-up on progress.

“However, these bills can actually be reduced today,” she says. “If prices go up, suppliers immediately follow these developments, but of course they don’t do it the other way around. People need to feel the difference now, not just at the final bill.”

CD&V and Open Vld are also in favor, it became clear within the hour of the question. “Developments should go down on the initiative of energy suppliers and not at the request of households. Families and entrepreneurs are not free banks,” said CD & V party leader Servais Verherstraeten. According to Open Vld’er Christian Leysen, it is now “up to suppliers to reduce progress.”

According to Prime Minister Alexander de Croo (Open Vld), the government is watching closely whether the bills are now actually falling in price. “Citizens cannot play the role of financiers of energy companies.” According to the Prime Minister, Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Green) and State Secretary for Consumer Protection Alexia Bertrand (Open Vld) will soon discuss this with suppliers.

De Croo also confirmed that a bill by Van der Straeten was voted on last year, allowing citizens to reject and amend proposed advanced bills.

Mark van den Bosch, Director General of FEBEG, the sectoral association of energy suppliers, does not inadvertently react to the proposal, but makes some comments.

If the government wants it, we will talk about it. However, it is not the case for suppliers to knowingly overcharge customers beforehand. The intention is always to get the final bill out as zero as possible. The truth is that a large group of customers still have to pay at the end of the trip. At the same time, the currently volatile prices make it difficult to calculate these developments very precisely. If you just want to see your real monthly consumption bill, you actually have the option to choose monthly billing.

“When it comes to commitment, one must also realize that it has to work both ways,” van den Bosch says. “In this case, the advance not only automatically decreases when prices go down, but also goes up again when prices go up. Besides, a monthly adjustment doesn’t sound like a good idea to me anyway. Many customers prefer stability. With the advance that Change every month, the customer never knows where it is. If you want to make such a commitment, it seems more realistic to go to a quarterly adjustment.

a look. Lowest Energy Prices in Months: Should I Change the Contract? explains our energy specialist Christophe de Bebe (mijnenergie.be).