Energy companies investigated for charging solar owners more than needed for netting

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has launched an investigation into the extra costs energy companies charge solar panel owners, AD reports. The investigation follows reports that energy companies are charging more than they need to cover the netting scheme, in which solar panel owners deduct the excess energy they generate and push onto the grid from their future use.

According to energy companies, the netting scheme costs them a lot because solar panel owners generate excess energy during the sunny summer months when energy is cheap and the supply is large. They deduct that excess from energy used in the winter months when energy is much more expensive. The energy companies, therefore, started charging solar panel owners an extra amount on their energy bills. The Dutch Senate recently scrapped the government’s plan to phase out the netting scheme.

However, according to a study by comparison site Keuze.nl, the energy companies’ charges are much higher than needed to cover their costs for the netting scheme. According to the site’s calculations, an average family with solar panels that generate 3,500 kWh immediately consumes about 30 percent of that energy and pushes the remaining 70 percent onto the grid. To supply that power again in the winter months would cost an average of 126.40 euros per year.

Vandebron, for example, charges 252 euros to net that amount of electricity, 125 euros more than it costs. Budgetenergie charges 240 euros.

The ACM cannot prohibit energy companies from charging netting costs, but it has launched an investigation to see whether these costs are reasonable, according to the newspaper.