Dynamic Electricity Tariffs Germany 2026

A dynamic electricity tariff is a contract where your price changes hourly based on the EPEX Spot wholesale market price, plus fixed grid fees, taxes, levies and a supplier markup. When wind and solar flood the grid at midday, your price drops. When everyone cooks dinner at 7 pm, it rises. You pay exactly what your electricity costs in that specific hour.

Since 1 January 2025, all electricity suppliers in Germany must offer at least one dynamic tariff to customers who have an intelligent metering system (German: iMSys, smart meter). This applies to municipal utilities (Stadtwerke), discount suppliers and regional providers alike. The legal basis is § 41a of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG). Source: Bundesnetzagentur.

Yes. Without an intelligent metering system (iMSys, smart meter) a dynamic tariff is technically impossible because your supplier needs hourly consumption data. The rollout is mandatory above 6,000 kWh annual consumption under the Messstellenbetriebsgesetz (MsbG). Below that, you can request installation from your grid operator (Netzbetreiber), not your electricity supplier.

Mostly for households with an EV, heat pump or battery storage. In a short study by the consultancy Neon for the supplier Naturstrom, which Finanztip cites, a household with an EV saved €164 a year, about 31 % off its electricity bill, and one with a heat pump and buffer tank saved €124, about 7 %. The comparison was against a fixed tariff at 33.9 ct/kWh. A two-person household without an EV saved just one percent in the same study. The Verbraucherzentrale advises those households against switching.

The price risk sits entirely on you, the consumer. If the wholesale price spikes one evening, you pay that spike. If you cannot actively shift consumption, you may end up paying more than with a fixed-price tariff. The Verbraucherzentrale's exact wording: "The price risk lies completely with the consumer."

Not automatically. The day-ahead wholesale average was 8.93 ct/kWh in 2025, 7.85 ct/kWh in 2024, and 10.38 ct/kWh from January to early September 2026 (own analysis of the Bundesnetzagentur SMARD data). So the wholesale price has been rising, not falling. Grid fees, electricity tax, levies, VAT and your supplier markup all come on top and usually make up the larger share of the bill. Without flexible high-volume loads the saving stays small.

The day-ahead price was negative for about 575 hours in 2025 and 457 hours in 2024, a little over five percent of the year (own analysis of the Bundesnetzagentur SMARD data). For your retail price to actually turn negative, the wholesale price would need to fall well below minus 16 ct/kWh, because grid fees and taxes stay positive. In practice your retail price in those hours trends toward zero. Free electricity is rare.

The rollout continues, but slower than it is often presented. As of 31 December 2025 the Bundesnetzagentur counted 23.3 % of the mandatory installation cases fitted with an intelligent metering system, so the statutory interim target of 20 % was met. Measured against all metering points in Germany, though, the figure is only 5.5 %. By the end of 2032, 90 % of the metering points that have to be fitted should be done (section 45 MsbG). For you that means more suppliers, but often still a wait for the meter.

There is no fixed figure, and since 1 October 2025 the price changes every 15 minutes rather than hourly. As a guide: from January to early September 2026 the day-ahead price averaged 10.38 ct/kWh, 4.12 ct/kWh between 11am and 3pm, and 16.27 ct/kWh between 6pm and 9pm (own analysis of the Bundesnetzagentur SMARD data). Grid fees, taxes, levies and your supplier markup all come on top.

You need an intelligent metering system, which means a modern meter combined with a smart meter gateway. An old Ferraris disc meter will not do, and neither will a plain modern meter without a gateway, because your consumption has to be recorded and transmitted in quarter-hour intervals. The metering point operator at your grid operator handles this, not your electricity supplier.

The advantage shrinks in winter. Cheap midday hours come from solar generation, and there is little of that between November and February, while consumption is higher. If you can steer a heat pump or a battery into the cheap hours automatically, you still benefit. If you cannot shift your consumption, winter tends to cost you more.