Nearly 111,000 households used energy bill support scheme

Almost 111,000 homes have been given support to pay their energy bills this year, almost double the number of homes that were supported last year. The Tijdelijk Noodfonds Energie, the Temporary Emergency Energy Fund, reported this after reviewing almost all of the subsidy applications.

People with low incomes and high energy bills could request a subsidy from the emergency fund from January to March. More than 94,000 homes have done this via the emergency fund. The number of applications is much higher than last year because the arrangement has been relaxed this year, meaning more people are eligible for it. There is also more money available for it this year. The emergency fund said that households will receive an average of 97 euros per month to help pay their energy bills.

After approval, the people are supported for six months. Energy suppliers include the subsidy in the energy bill. It is not known how many applications were denied.

According to the emergency fund, the most applications came from Rotterdam. Almost 13,000 homes in the city requested support. Compared to the number of inhabitants, the most requests came from the Groningen municipality of Pekela. Here, almost 5.5 percent of households applied for a subsidy.

To receive an energy subsidy, a household's gross income must not exceed 200 percent of the social minimum, including holiday pay. For people who live alone, this amounts to 3,200 euros per month, and for cohabitants to 4,480 euros. Furthermore, at least 10 percent of the income must be spent on the energy bill. The threshold is lower for people with an income below the social minimum.

Last year, 83,000 homes requested energy support. Over 50,000 of those were granted, which amounted to 43.7 million euros spent in total. Most of that comes from the government, but energy providers have also spent money on this.

Het Tijdelijk Noodfonds Energie was started in 2022 after energy prices rose sharply due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Some people struggled to pay their bills and would, therefore, not put their heating on in the winter.

Because energy costs are still higher than before the war, people could apply for subsidies again this year. The emergency fund expects that targeted support will continue to be needed in the coming winters for people with a low income who cannot make their homes sustainable.