More and more energy suppliers are charging solar panel owners to reflect the additional costs

Flanders is busy rolling out the digital meter. Solar panel owners are not very happy about this. Thanks to the analog meter, they can make use of the system with the reverse meter (with consumer rate). It now seems that more and more suppliers are charging extra when people with solar panels still have an analog meter.

Context: Flanders wants to replace all analog meters with digital variants. The goal is for 80 percent of families to have such a device by the end of this year. This number is supposed to rise to 100 percent by the end of 2029.

• Solar panel owners are great digital meter lovers. Using solar panels and an analog meter, the meter turns back as energy is pumped into the power grid. The meter reading you provide annually corresponds to the difference between the energy you consume and the energy you generate. If you generate at least as much energy as you consume, your meter reading will be zero at the end of the contract year. In this case, you pay no consumption costs, but only the consumer price.
• On the other hand, a digital meter operates with separate consumption and injection. So there is no longer a reverse counter. You will receive compensation for the electricity you pump into the grid. In addition, you no longer pay the consumer price. Many believe they will benefit less from the new system. So they try to stick to the analog scale as long as possible.
  • Anyone who installed solar panels between the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2021 can postpone installation of the digital meter until January 1, 2025. After that, installation is inevitable.

I noticed: Reports indicate that more and more energy suppliers are charging solar panel owners with fees reflecting the additional costs Mijnenergie.be. Six companies already work this way.

• Elegant has been charging such fees since April 1, amounting to €160 for those with an average installation with an inverter capacity of 4 kVA.
• Frank Energie charges the highest fee at €312. Octa+ (€211.66) and Ecopower (€168) complete the top three in terms of highest compensation.
• In Mega, customers pay €140 and in Trevion €60.96.
• A poll conducted by the website Mijnenergie.be last fall showed that the largest energy suppliers have no concrete plans in this direction, but many service providers do not completely rule out this possibility.

Various reasons

clarification: Suppliers cite various reasons for charging such fees.

• Ecopower refers to the price difference between the electricity that consumers pump into the grid and the electricity they consume. “When households pump electricity, market prices are generally low because there are large supplies of solar energy. When they consume, electricity is more expensive because of high demand and low supply. The analog meter turns back and looks at net electricity consumption on an annual basis, without taking into account the moment Injection or consumption In this way, the real costs are not reflected in the invoice.
• Elijah announced that the imbalance costs paid by energy suppliers to high voltage grid operator Elijah have increased.
  • Suppliers make a daily estimate of how much electricity their customers will buy every quarter hour and how much they will pump out. Supply and demand must always be balanced on the energy grid. If the estimate deviates from reality, for example because there is more or less sun than expected, the supplier pays compensation to Ilia to correct the balance on the grid. Energy suppliers pass these costs on to their customers.

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