Average increase of transmission tariffs for natural gas in 2020 to be 8.6 percent

The transmission tariffs of Dutch transmission system operator for natural gas Gasunie Transport Services (GTS) will increase, on average, by 8.6 percent in 2020. This has been determined by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). This increase is less than the 10 percent that GTS had proposed, because ACM has spread out the increase over the next few years. The most important reason for the increase is that, in 2017 through 2019, GTS was allowed to have more revenues than ACM had set at the time. This difference will now be settled in the 2020 tariffs. What effect this increase will have on consumers is not yet known.

A different calculation method

Following new European regulations, ACM will now use a different calculation method for calculating the transmission tariffs for natural gas than before. One of the consequences is that, from 2020, the national transmission tariffs will be the same in the entire country. At the moment, the farther buyers are from Groningen, the higher the tariffs are.

Effects on consumers

GTS’s transmission costs are not directly charged to consumers but to gas suppliers. What the exact effect will be on consumers depends on the degree to which these cost increases are passed on.

An affordable and secure supply of energy

ACM supports the objective of realizing an affordable, and secure supply of energy. It regulates system operators, which enjoy a monopoly on the transmission of electricity and natural gas. ACM’s regulation ensures that tariffs are not higher than necessary, and it offers system operators a reasonable return on their investments.