ACM: Transmission tariffs for natural gas to go up again after incidental decrease in 2024
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has taken a decision about the previous proposal of Dutch transmission system operator for natural gas Gasunie Transport Services B.V. (GTS) regarding the transmission tariffs for natural gas. In 2025, GTS’s tariffs will increase, on average, by 52 percent. Households will pay approximately 10 euros per year more for natural-gas transmission in 2025, as these costs only represent a small share of the total energy bill.
The increase in tariffs is caused by, among other reasons, a ruling by the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb), as a result of which GTS is allowed, with retroactive effect, to earn 178 million more in revenues over the years 2022 to 2024. In addition, the decision results in structurally higher revenues for the years 2025 and 2026. GTS expects that they will also sell less capacity in 2025 because less and less natural gas is consumed. The increase in tariffs is also caused by the higher interest rate and, as a consequence, by the higher weighted average cost of capital (WACC).
In 2024, GTS’s tariffs went down 20 percent because GTS needed to return to the market additional revenues of the prior years through the tariffs. In 2022, GTS earned approximately 650 million in extra revenues from natural-gas transmission through cross-border points because much more natural gas had to be imported from LNG-terminals in Belgium and the United Kingdom due to the loss of Russian natural gas in 2022. The situation on the natural-gas market has changed again, and these extra revenues have now largely disappeared. Of those extra revenues, GTS in 2024 returned approximately 420 million euros to the market. ACM in 2024 decided that the rest is to be returned in 2025 in order to mitigate the drop in tariffs in 2024, and to soften the increase in 2025 as much as possible.
GTS uses different tariffs for the different users of the transmission network for natural gas. For example, lower tariffs apply to natural-gas storage facilities as well as to the points where liquified natural gas (LNG) is fed into the network. Full natural-gas storage facilities and delivery of LNG are important to the security of supply.
Each year, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) sets GTS’s tariffs. GTS has a monopoly on the transmission of natural gas. By annually setting the tariffs that GTS can charge its network users, ACM ensures that these tariffs are not too high. At the same time, ACM offers system operators assurance that they earn a reasonable return on investments that are needed for the security of supply and the energy transition. Through its regulatory efforts, ACM thus helps realize an affordable, secure, and sustainable supply of energy.