Similar, to choosing an electricity provider you will always have gas – meaning hot water and heating – available. There is a standard supplier in your region (e.g. Gasag in Berlin, E.ON in Hamburg, SWM in Munich, RheinEnergie in Cologne or Mainova in Frankfurt) with a basic contract (Grundversorgungsvertrag). Not doing anything, you will receive a request for payment from the local provider at one point. It has become very usual for Germany to change provider and plan as the conditions of the standard plans are very expensive. The notice period to quit the standard supplier is only 2 weeks.

It shall not take you more than 10 minutes. Your new gas provider will take care of everything (e.g. quitting the contract with your old provider or informing with the grid provider). Contracts usually have a duration of 1 year (with special options to quit when moving or leaving the country). Conditions are very beneficial during the initial year (i.e. discounts, sign-up bonuses). Therefore, some people change provider yearly. Similar to electricity fares also gas fares include the following elements:

• • Basic price (Grundpreis): Monthly fee independent of electricity usage
  • Usage price (Verbrauchspreis): Price per kilowatt-hour, dependent on your actual usage
  • Immediate discount (Sofortrabatt): Discount applied per kilowatt-hour, usually only during the first year
  • Immediate bonus (Sofortbonus): Fixed amount paid out during the start of your contract to new customers
  • Neukundenbonus (New customer bonus): Fixed amount paid out usually at the end of the first contract year.

There will be a direct debit of a monthly advance payment based on your expected usage. Based on the actual usage, you will then receive a payback or have to do an additional payment once a year.

Below comparison service is provided in collaboration with our partner Verivox. It is also directly accessible on the site of Verivox (commercial link). When entering your zip code, you get an overview of all fares. It also indicates the standard contract fares (Grundversorgervertrag) as a reference. To sign up to a new contract, you only require your address and the number written on your gas meter. It is normally located in your apartment.