Energy contracts in the Netherlands, explained (2027)

Short answer: a Dutch energy bill is the supplier’s price per kWh and per m³, a fixed supply fee, regional grid costs, and energy tax minus a yearly credit on the electricity connection. In 2026 VAT on that bill is 21%. A fixed contract locks the supply price and can cost a fee if you leave early. A variable or dynamic contract has no such fee. Net metering ends on 1 January 2027.

What is on a Dutch energy bill?

The bill has the same blocks whichever supplier you use. The supply price and the fixed supply fee are what the supplier sets. Grid costs and energy tax are not. You usually pay a monthly advance (voorschot, also called termijnbedrag). The annual statement (jaarafrekening) settles the difference between those advances and the year you actually used.

CBS publishes national averages, including VAT. September 2026 is provisional. The table was changed on 13 October 2026. This page was read on 25 October 2026. Your contract and your region can differ. We do not rank suppliers.

Part of the bill, September 2026	Electricity	Gas
Supply price, fixed and variable contracts	€0.1487 per kWh	€0.6618 per m³
Fixed supply fee, fixed and variable contracts	€115.23 a year	€93.05 a year
Supply price, dynamic contracts	€0.2057 per kWh	not a separate CBS column
Fixed supply fee, dynamic contracts	€98.21 a year	not a separate CBS column
Grid costs (transport)	€476.87 a year	€268.37 a year
Energy tax	€0.11085 per kWh	€0.7268 per m³
Energy tax credit	€628.96 off the bill, per electricity connection	none

CBS describes the dynamic electricity price as an unweighted average of all day-ahead prices plus a weighted average purchase fee. It is not the cost of charging in the cheapest hours. That comparison is in home charging below. The grid amount is an average: CBS says the real amount depends on the region you live in. There is no single 2026 tariff here for each grid operator.

Energy tax, the tax credit and VAT

The Belastingdienst table, read on 25 October 2026, gives the 2026 rates. Our energy-tax data, checked on 27 September 2026, records those rates as excluding VAT, and records VAT at 21% for all of 2026. With that 21%, the Belastingdienst amounts come to the CBS amounts including VAT.

2026, Belastingdienst	Excluding VAT	Including 21% VAT (CBS)
Electricity, up to 10,000 kWh	€0.09161 per kWh	€0.11085 per kWh
Electricity, 10,001 to 50,000 kWh	€0.06671 per kWh	not the household line in the CBS table above
Natural gas, up to 170,000 m³	€0.60066 per m³	€0.7268 per m³
Tax credit, per electricity connection with a residential function	€519.80 a year	€628.96 a year

The two electricity bands up to 10,000 kWh (0 to 2,900 kWh, and 2,901 to 10,000 kWh) are the same rate. The two gas bands up to 170,000 m³ are the same rate as well. Our dynamic-contract comparison uses 2,430 kWh a year for an average household (Milieu Centraal, page updated 4 September 2026) plus 2,700 kWh for 15,000 km of home charging at 18 kWh per 100 km. That example, 5,130 kWh, stays inside the band up to 10,000 kWh.

The credit is the vermindering energiebelasting. Bills often call it heffingskorting. It applies per electricity connection per year, for a building with a residential function (a home or an office, in the Belastingdienst wording). If the energy tax for the period is lower than the credit, the difference is paid back. The credit is already spread through the monthly advance. The old ODE surcharge is not a separate line in 2026: the Belastingdienst table sets it at zero from 2023.

The statute text dated 1 January 2027, read on 25 October 2026, is marked as a future text that can still change before it takes effect. It is not a final 2027 price. Article 59 states €0.08579 per kWh up to 10,000 kWh (again the same rate on both bands) and €0.06610 per kWh from 10,001 to 50,000 kWh. Gas up to 170,000 m³ stays €0.60066 per m³, the same as the 2026 Belastingdienst rate. Article 63 states a reduction of €519.58 per electricity connection per 12 months. Our 2027 checklist reads the electricity rate as excluding VAT, the same basis as the Belastingdienst table. Do not budget on these 2027 figures until the text is in force.

Grid costs are regional, and the 2027 tariffs are not set

Grid costs (netbeheerkosten) pay the regional grid operator for the connection and for transport. They do not depend on which supplier you choose. CBS does not publish a 2026 amount per operator, only the national average above.

The ACM published the operators’ tariff proposals for 2027 on 7 October 2026 and wrote that it will decide in November 2026. Households and businesses on the regional grids are expected to pay on average 20% more for electricity and gas transport together. For an average household the ACM names about €89 a year more for electricity and €52 a year more for gas transport. That 20% covers electricity and gas together. The €89 is not the extra amount for a household with an electric car, and it is not a set tariff per grid operator. Use your own operator’s tariff only once the ACM has set it.

How do fixed, variable and dynamic contracts work?

The contract sets the supply price and the fixed supply fee. ACM ConsuWijzer, page read on 25 October 2026, says which form fits depends on how much certainty you want. We do not recommend a supplier or a contract form.

	Fixed	Variable	Dynamic
Supply price	Locked for the term in the contract, for example one year	The supplier may change it. Many suppliers do so around 1 January and 1 July	Electricity follows the market every quarter-hour, hour or day. Gas follows it every day
Termination fee if you leave early	Only if the three conditions below are met	No	No
Notice period	One month at most	One month at most	One month at most
What the ACM says it is for	You know the supply rate for the term. These contracts are often more expensive, and you do not gain if electricity gets cheaper	You can leave without a termination fee. The rate you see in an offer can change	It can cost less or more. The supplier cannot estimate what you will pay in a year

On 27 September 2026, of 71 household brands in our comparison, 32 publish a fixed contract, 34 a variable one and 59 a dynamic one. The counts overlap. For 10, 8 and 4 brands the type is missing from the page.

Of those 59 dynamic contracts, 31 publish a quarter-hour electricity price, 24 an hourly price and 4 do not state the interval. Seventeen publish a markup, €0.010 to €0.06251 per kWh, median €0.020 (6 of the 17 do not state whether VAT is included). Eighteen publish a monthly fixed electricity fee, €4.83 to €8.57, median €7.37 (12 of the 18 do not state VAT). The list is on dynamic energy contract. Market price, energy tax and grid costs are the same whichever of those suppliers you choose.

Smart charging needs a price that moves. Of the 59, our records show smart charging available at 23, coming soon at 3, and not offered at 33. Whether a brand steers the car itself is on energy suppliers.

What does it cost to leave, and how long is the notice period?

The notice period is in the contract, one month at most, and starts the day after you cancel. That covers every contract type, including an open-ended one (ACM ConsuWijzer, page read on 25 October 2026).

You pay a termination fee only if you have a fixed term, it is still running, and both are in the contract. That includes a move. There is no fee on a variable or dynamic tariff, after the term ends, if the supplier ends the contract (except sometimes for late payment), if the fee is billed only after the final bill, or if the contract does not explain the sum.

The sum is the consumption still to come, times the gap between your rate and a new contract at the same supplier for the time left. If energy has become more expensive, the fee is zero. The calculation stays valid for 2 months. The fee is on the final bill, within 6 weeks. The basis we use is the ConsuWijzer page, not a market price of our own.

ConsuWijzer’s example is not a current market price. A one-year contract starts on 1 July 2025 at €0.45 per kWh and €0.90 per m³. You cancel on 25 March 2026, with 800 kWh and 500 m³ still to go. The reference price is €0.25 per kWh and €0.60 per m³. Electricity is then (0.45 minus 0.25) times 800 kWh, which is €160. Gas is (0.90 minus 0.60) times 500 m³, which is €150. One contract for electricity and gas together is cancelled as a whole, even if you only wanted to stop one of the two. You then need a new contract for the one you wanted to keep, and the supplier may charge a fee for both.

With solar panels you still pay that fee if you leave a fixed contract early. The supplier uses your standard annual consumption and your generation. A cash welcome premium may be reclaimed within 6 months, never more than the premium. After 6 months, no. You also do not repay it if you receive it later than the second monthly advance. A non-cash gift stays with you. Ask for the expected fee before you sign. What each contract form does for solar panels and an electric car after 1 January 2027 is a separate question: which energy contract you choose for 2027.

What changes for solar panels on 1 January 2027?

The government and the ACM, both read on 25 October 2026, say net metering (saldering) ends on 1 January 2027. Through 31 December 2026 you offset exported electricity against what you take, including energy tax and VAT. The supplier cannot postpone that date. Your contract can still give you a right to net metering, so read it. If a contract runs past 1 January 2027 and the supplier changes the terms, that is allowed only when the current terms clearly say why, and you can then switch without a fee.

From 1 January 2027:

• Feed-in payment. A reasonable amount per exported kWh. Until 1 January 2030, at least 50% of the supply price without energy tax and VAT.
• Feed-in costs (terugleverkosten). Suppliers may charge them for handling exported electricity. From 2027 the ACM says those costs must be charged to customers who export, and they can be higher than the payment.
• Power you use yourself. No taxes and no supplier costs on solar power you generate and use directly (government). The Belastingdienst states the tax part: no energy tax on electricity you generate yourself from a renewable source. That saved kWh is worth the full price you would have paid.
• Registration. The ACM says the panels have to be registered at Energieleveren.nl. A normal household has the small connection that net metering applies to.

In our feed-in overview, 13 suppliers with a 1-year fixed contract have a known 2027 net amount (payment minus feed-in costs) of 0.249 to 4.130 cents per kWh. Four suppliers have no 2027 figure in that overview yet. The rates are from the Consumentenbond, dated 23 September 2026, checked on 6 October 2026. The source does not say whether the per-kWh figures include VAT. Dynamic contracts are not in that single net amount. The table and the dynamic cases are in feed-in costs 2027 by supplier.

What does home charging cost?

On a dynamic contract the hourly price is the one smart charging can move toward. The EV cost scan prices home charging from November 2025 to October 2026 at €0.2665 per kWh (day average) and €0.1911 per kWh (four cheapest hours of each day). Both include energy tax, VAT and the median markup of the dynamic contracts we compare. Both leave out the fixed supply fee, grid costs and the yearly tax credit.

The day-ahead price itself, without tax and without the markup, is on electricity price.

Your ERE payment does not follow the energy contract, except where a supplier ties the payout to its own deal. In 2026 our ERE data uses 0.33269 ERE per kWh charged (50.5% renewable share, 183 grams of CO2 per MJ, 3.6 MJ per kWh). On 2 November 2026 the ERE price in our comparison is €0.310, about €0.103 per kWh before commission. The median published commission is 20%. The explanation is in what the ERE payment for home charging is. Compare providers on the homepage. Which suppliers attach a deal to their own contract is in the 2027 contract guide.

How do you switch supplier in the Netherlands?

ACM ConsuWijzer, pages read on 25 October 2026, describes these steps.

1. Take your last annual statement. You need your yearly use and what you pay now before a comparison means anything.
2. If you are still inside a fixed term, ask the current supplier for the expected termination fee before you sign. The calculation stays valid for 2 months.
3. Sign up with the new supplier. That supplier arranges the switch. You can do this through the supplier or through a comparison site. Electricity and gas do not have to come from the same supplier.
4. On a variable or dynamic contract there is no termination fee. On a fixed contract the fee applies only when the three conditions above are met.
5. You have 14 days to cancel the new contract, without giving a reason and without a termination fee. If the supplier never tells you about that cooling-off period, it can run for up to a year. A contract agreed by telephone is valid only after you confirm it in writing, on paper, by email or online.

A cash welcome premium and solar generation are part of the fee rules in the section above. We do not tell you which offer to take.

How do you compare?

Two pages on this site answer different questions.

• Energy suppliers lists every supplier with an ACM licence to supply households: which contract types exist, the dynamic tariff, smart charging and any ERE deal. We do not compare fixed or variable unit prices. Those change often and depend on the term and on promotions.
• Electricity price is the Dutch day-ahead price today and tomorrow, and the step from that market price to a price per kWh with energy tax and VAT.
• Dynamic energy contract puts the published fixed fee and the markup per kWh next to each other. Same rules for every supplier.

ACM ConsuWijzer does not advise which supplier or which comparison site to use. Discounts often apply to the supply costs only, not to transport costs or tax. With solar panels, compare the supply rate and the feed-in costs, not a single kWh price.

Dutch words on the bill

These are the words expats meet on a Dutch bill. The amounts behind them are in the sections above.

On the bill	In English	What it is
vastrecht	Fixed supply charge	Also called vaste leveringskosten. The supplier’s standing fee, separate from the price per kWh or m³
netbeheerkosten	Grid costs	What the regional grid operator charges. It depends on your region, not on your supplier
energiebelasting	Energy tax	Tax per kWh and per m³. The Belastingdienst sets the rate
vermindering energiebelasting	Energy tax reduction	A yearly credit on the electricity connection. Bills often call it heffingskorting
terugleverkosten	Feed-in costs	A charge for electricity you export from solar panels
saldering	Net metering	Offsetting exported electricity against electricity you take. Ends on 1 January 2027
jaarafrekening	Annual statement	The yearly bill that settles your advances against actual use
voorschot	Monthly advance	Also called termijnbedrag. The amount you pay each month, adjusted on the annual statement