ACM Energy monitors: Natural-gas price went down further, switching to better contracts continues to pay off
Summary
- The decreasing natural-gas price on the wholesale market results in lower prices for contracts for electricity and natural gas.
- ACM keeps a close watch on the prices of energy suppliers, and publishes each month an overview of all contracts with significantly higher prices.
- In addition, ACM also keeps a close watch on the wholesale markets for natural gas and electricity through its monthly monitors.
Over the past month, the price for natural gas on the wholesale market for natural gas has gone down further to 32 euros per MWh. The decreasing natural-gas price has resulted in lower prices for the contracts on offer for electricity and gas. Fixed contracts became up to 3 percent cheaper. The prices of variable contracts went down up to 3.5 percent. That has been revealed by the various energy monitors of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Next to fixed or variable contracts, households can also opt for dynamic energy contracts. With these contracts, prices for electricity and natural gas directly follow the prices on the wholesale market.
ACM keeps a close watch on the trends and developments on the energy markets, and publishes each month a Monitor on wholesale prices of electricity (in Dutch), a Monitor on wholesale prices and the security of supply of natural gas (in Dutch), and a Monitor on the consumer energy market (in Dutch).
The Monitor on the consumer energy market contains information about all contracts offered by all energy suppliers. The monitor has revealed that, this month too, there are significant price differences between suppliers. Switching to better contracts can pay off, with differences of up to approximately 900 euros per year between the most affordable and most expensive contracts.
Significantly higher prices
ACM conducts oversight over the prices of energy suppliers. In its oversight, ACM looks at, among other aspects, the price differences between suppliers as well as the reasons behind these price differences. ACM’s monitor on the consumer energy market reveals that the prices of the below contracts for households are significantly higher than comparable contracts of other energy suppliers.
| Supplier | Contract type | Contract name (in Dutch) |
| Kikker Energie | Variable – natural gas and electricity | Kikker Energie variabel |
| Powerpeers | Variable – electricity | Variabel |
| Energyhouse | Variable – electricity | Variabel |
| Noord Energie | Fixed 1 year – natural gas | Noord Energie 1 jaar vast |
| Kikker Energie | Dynamic – natural gas and electricity | Kikker Energie Dynamisch |
| HalloStroom | Dynamic - electricity | Stroom en Gas Dynamisch |
ACM’s Monitor on the consumer energy market also reveals that several suppliers charge significantly higher prices for their model contracts. This is the case with ANWB Energie, Energy Zero, HalloStroom, Zonneplan, Slim met Energie, EasyEnergy, OpenSource Energie, Tibber, Scholt Energy, and Clean Energy. A model contract is a standard contract with a variable price. Every energy supplier is statutorily required to offer such a model contract, even suppliers that wish to offer dynamic contracts only.
Trends and developments of the wholesale market
The Monitor on wholesale prices and the security of supply of natural gas (in Dutch) reveals that the natural-gas price this month went down from 42 euros per MWh at the start of April to 32 euros per MWh by the end of the month. The filling rate of gas storages slightly went up to 26 percent in April. The goal is that, on 1 November 2025, the filling rate is at least 80 percent in order to guarantee the security of supply in the winter. One important factor for filling the gas storages is the price difference between natural gas in the summer and in the winter (this is called the ‘spread’). This spread is now 1.50 euros per MWh, which offers market participants insufficient incentive to fill the storages of their own accord. A spread of 2.20 euros per MWh would be needed for them to do so. ACM also monitors how much liquefied natural gas (LNG) is supplied each month. The supply of LNG in April remained stable.
The Monitor on wholesale prices of electricity (in Dutch) shows that the electricity price has gone down over the past month. This is caused by the decreasing natural-gas price and the increasing supply of solar and wind power. In some periods in April, the large supply of green power has resulted in negative (or very negative) prices. Households with dynamic contracts were able to see this directly in their energy bills: they received money when they consumed power during those periods.