Electric cars and saunas can trigger unexpected electricity charges

Households in Carinthia could face additional electricity charges of more than €1,000 after buying an electric car, sauna or heat pump, ORF Kärnten reports. The charge can apply when annual consumption exceeds the limit set in the customer’s contract.

The network capacity charge is a one-off payment made when an electricity tariff is agreed. Erwin Smole, a board member of Klagenfurt municipal utility Stadtwerke Klagenfurt, said customers face an additional bill if they use more electricity than their contract allows. The threshold is 10,000 kilowatt-hours a year.

About 150 of the utility’s 88,000 customers are affected each year, Smole said. ORF Kärnten has seen a bill sent to one household that exceeded the threshold and now owes just over €1,200.

Smole said the charge funds upgrades to the electricity network, including stronger or new power lines and reinforced transformer stations. Customers whose higher consumption is temporary can request a refund if they fall below the threshold during the following three years. Otherwise, they remain in the higher charge category, he said.

Carinthia’s largest energy provider, KELAG, said in a written statement that Kärnten Netz charges the fee only when legal and contractual conditions are met, and that customers receive a separate bill.

E-Control board member Alfons Haber said households with electric cars, heat pumps or pools could save money through their own electricity generation and energy management. He cited charging electric cars overnight at low power as one way to ease pressure on the grid.