New energy contracts for solar panel owners up to €270 more expensive per year

Netherlands residents with solar panels who sign a new energy contract will pay up to 270 euros more per year. Almost all energy companies are now charging extra costs for netting - the scheme that allows customers to get compensation for the solar energy they don’t use and push back onto the grid, AD reports based on research by comparison site Keuze.nl.

The netting scheme costs energy companies a lot. In practice, solar panel owners can use the extra energy they generate in the summer - when energy prices are low and there is a surplus of supply - for free in the gloomier winter months when energy is much more expensive.

Vandebron was the first energy supplier to announce an extra charge for solar panel owners in August, plainly stating that it couldn’t charge its clients who don’t have solar panels for the costs created by those who do. Other companies implemented the extra charge without announcing it or hiding it in the offer. Of the 15 energy companies Keuze.nl examined, 11 charge extra costs for customers who supply solar power.

According to Geert Wirken of Keuze.nl, the most common method to charge solar panel owners extra is not to offer chas back, an amount paid by the energy company at the end of the contract, which saves 120 to 270 euros per year. “These differences are based on the current rates. Last week, the cash backs were higher, and the difference with or without solar panes was even greater.”

Many energy companies also won’t offer solar panel owners long-term contracts, most sticking to one-year terms. According to Wirken, energy companies are unsure about the netting scheme. Early this year, parliament voted to phase out the netting scheme from 2025. But, it is uncertain whether the Senate will approve the plan. The fall of the Cabinet has also created uncertainty about how phasing out would happen and how much energy companies can charge customers for pushing power onto the grid. “They don’t want to run the risk of not being able to pass on extra costs,” he said.

Uncertainty about the netting scheme has also made Netherlands residents a lot more hesitant to install solar panels, Financieele Dagblad reports. People don’t want to install solar panels if they can’t be certain how much they’ll earn back from it, installation companies told the newspaper. “There is a slight panic within the industry,” Peter Debije, director of New Energysystems in Limburg, told FD. Demand for solar panels has fallen by about 60 percent since the summer, he said. “The first two solar companies have already collapsed in the South.”