Vattenfall not allowed to increase customer's rates multiple times a year, court rules

Vattenfall was guilty of “unfair commercial practices” by raising energy rates several times last year, the subdistrict court in Amsterdam ruled. The energy supplier’s website stated that rates for variable contracts are only changed twice a year. The ruling could have far-reaching consequences, a spokesperson for the Consumentenbond confirmed after reporting by AD.

The case concerns a Vattenfall customer whose rates were increased multiple times and who did not want to just accept it. In their argument, the customer pointed to the factually incorrect information on Vattenfall’s website. The company also did not give enough notice for rate changes. For example, Vattenfall announced a rate change for April 1 - the third of that year - only ten days before the new prices took effect. According to the regulator ACM, energy companies are required to announce rate changes at least 30 days in advance.

Vattenfall argued that the war in Ukraine created a unique situation that had never occurred before. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gas prices on the gas markets skyrocketed, which meant Vattenfall faced extremely high purchase prices.

But the court disagreed with the energy company’s reasoning. Because Vattenfall announced the change so shortly in advance, the customer had no time to object or switch to another supplier.

“It is also important that the court indicated that it only became clear what is meant by exceptional circumstances after an actual rate change. That should already be clear to the consumer when entering into a contract,” said a spokesperson for the consumers’ association Consumentenbond. “This can therefore have far-reaching consequences for energy suppliers who changed the rates more than twice a year based on this unfair change clause.”

The court banned Vattenfall from implementing the rate increase of 1 April 2022 for the customer.

Vattenfall is considering an appeal. “We believe that the general terms and conditions clearly describe in which cases rates may be changed,” a spokesperson said. They emphasized that this ruling only applies to this specific customer in this specific situation and, therefore, not immediately to all the company’s customers.