About 700 households in Amsterdam do not have an energy contract, threat of disconnection

The number of households in Amsterdam that do not have an energy contract is increasing. Currently, about 700 households in the capital do not have an energy contract, and every week about 20 households are added. If they do not find a new energy supplier, they are threatened with disconnection, reported the municipality of Amsterdam.

According to the municipality, this is a group of households that did not take advantage of the help offered by the neighborhood teams when their energy supplier reported payment arrears. "A contract termination and a threatened disconnection of energy supply may be the moment when this group accepts help anyway," according to the city administration. In 2022, energy providers reported nearly 10,000 households at risk of financial trouble due to high energy bills, city officials said. That's about 3,000 more than in 2021.

In January, Amsterdam began a trial in which network operator Liander passed on address details of residents without energy contracts to the municipality for three months. This is one of the measures the municipality has taken to combat energy poverty in the city, among other things. "With this we can offer targeted help and try to prevent this group from getting further entangled in debt and literally being left out in the cold," said the municipality.