EWE to Lower Natural Gas Prices from April 1, 2007 (Ems-Weser-Elbe)

Oldenburg, February 15, 2007. The Oldenburg-based energy provider EWE is to lower its natural gas prices from April 1, 2007. The hourly kilowatt price for natural gas is to fall for domestic users by a net 0.4 cent. This means that the kilowatt hour for natural gas under the EWE classic tariff will be 4.11 cent net (current price is 4.51 cent). This corresponds to a reduction by 8.9 per cent. A household with an average annual consumption of 30,000 kilowatt hours will see its costs fall by more than 140 euros annually. As usual, customers will be receiving more detailed information in the next few days.

The reduction is due to lower procurement prices for natural gas as a result of falling oil prices. The warm weather during the winter months has led to a drop in demand for oil and natural gas. EWE customers have also used significantly less this winter. “The reduction was already on the cards early this year and does not constitute a reaction to competitor offers based solely on lower prices”, says EWE Chairman of the Management Board, Dr. Werner Brinker. EWE stands not only for competitive prices, but will continue to combine these with excellent service.  Additionally, the EWE classic continues to be 0.17 cent/kWh (gross) below the E.ON price. Most customers take advantage of the EWE classic tariff.

“We are passing all of the lower procurement costs on to our customers. This shows that the tagging the gas price to the oil price does not mean one-way traffic upwards, as is often claimed”, continued Brinker. The expected cut of network prices for natural gas by the federal network agency was already taken account of in the price adjustment on November 1, 2006. 

The upcoming price cut will see EWE clearly maintaining its position as one of the most favorable natural gas suppliers in Germany. In January a price comparison conducted by the Federal Anti-Trust Office and the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung showed that EWE was nationally among the price setters for natural gas.