Electricity

Electricity is usually the one utility you arrange yourself. It is not normally part of your service charges, and if you do nothing you will be supplied anyway — on the most expensive tariff available.

Who arranges it

You, not the landlord

Do it

Within two weeks of moving

You need

Your meter number and reading

Switching

Free, and worth doing

The default that costs you money

Every address has a basic supplier — the Grundversorger — who must supply anyone who asks. Move in without arranging anything and you are automatically their customer. The power works, the bills arrive, nothing is wrong.

It is simply the most expensive tariff on the market. The default exists to guarantee supply, not to be good value. Switching to a normal contract is straightforward and usually saves a meaningful amount over a year.

Setting it up

1. Read the meter on the day you move in

   Photograph it, with the meter number visible. This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it takes a minute. It is what stops you being billed for the previous tenant's use.

2. Compare tariffs

   Comparison sites are the normal route. Look past the headline price at the contract length, the notice period, and whether the first-year discount disappears afterwards.

3. Sign up with your chosen supplier

   You give the address, the meter number and the opening reading. If you are switching, the new supplier handles the cancellation — you do not contact the old one.

4. Set the monthly payment sensibly

   You pay a fixed amount each month called the Abschlag, estimated from expected use. Set it too low and you face a large bill at the annual reconciliation.

How the billing works

German electricity billing is an estimate that gets corrected once a year, which surprises people who expect to pay for what they used each month.

You pay the same Abschlag every month. Once a year the meter is read properly and the supplier compares real use against what you paid. Use less than estimated and you get a refund; use more and you owe the difference in one payment. Keep a little aside for that.

The broadcasting fee

Separate from electricity, but it arrives at the same time and confuses almost every new arrival. The Rundfunkbeitrag funds public broadcasting and is charged per household, not per person. It is mandatory whether or not you own a television.

One flat pays once. In a shared flat, one person registers and the others contribute — you do not each pay. If a letter arrives demanding it, do not ignore it; if a flatmate already pays, you simply say so.

Energy prices and the broadcasting fee both change from time to time. Treat any figure you read online as indicative and check the current one before budgeting.

When you move out

Read the meter again on your last day, photograph it, and give your supplier notice with a forwarding address. Skip this and the final bill follows you — sometimes for months, and sometimes to the wrong address.