Energyprice.be and CREG Scan: two essential tools to help you choose the best energy contract

A million Belgian households could save €500 on their energy bill each year.  There are several reasons for this: the complexity of the market, a surplus of ‘dormant contracts’, and households that do not compare their rates often enough. To assess this additional cost, the regulator has developed CREG Scan. This tool is the first step when it comes to switching supplier. However, it doesn’t take into account any current special offers and it doesn’t allow you to switch supplier. This is where Energyprice.be, the first CREG-certified comparison tool, comes in. It includes all these factors, which means you can choose the best contract on the market in just a few clicks.

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Since the start of 2021, energy prices have risen sharply, which has had a significant impact on the gas and electricity bills of Belgian households. The reason for this is the resumption of activity post-lockdown and the price rises on the wholesale market. At present, energy prices are higher than they were before the Covid crisis. This means that Belgian households would be well advised to switch energy supplier!

Expensive dormant contracts…

The CREG has again hammered home the harmful effect of dormant contracts. As a reminder, these are contracts that are extended when they expire. They are generally outdated and expensive, and the suppliers no longer list them among their current products. For this reason, they are renewed automatically.

In 2020, the issue of dormant contracts affected 300,000 households for electricity and 170,000 households for gas.

For the federal regulator, discontinuing dormant contracts would lead to potential annual savings of up to €340 for electricity and €864 for gas. These amounts represent the difference between the cheapest and the most expensive contract on the market.

Fortunately for our wallets, automatic renewal of dormant contracts will be abolished by 2022, thanks to a new law which has been passed by the Chamber.

… and contracts that are unsuitable and too expensive

However, active consumers are not always better off. The CREG also noted that Belgian households tended to opt for expensive contracts:

“More than 2.23 million households have one of the 10 most expensive electricity contracts on the market. For gas, more than 1.2 million households have one of the 10 most expensive contracts on the market. In total, more than a million Belgians could save more than €500 on their energy every year.”

Source : La CREG

This would suggest that, without guidance, consumers do not always make the right choices. There are many reasons for this, but the CREG cites the complexity of the energy market as the principal cause. That is why assistance from an energy advisor may prove essential for choosing a suitable contract.

How can I compare suppliers with the CREG Scan price comparison tool?

In light of these figures, it is essential to use certified tools to compare the different packages available. In practice, this process involves two stages:

First of all, visit CREG Scan to find out where your contract sits in relation to the current market rate. This first stage will help you determine whether it makes sense for you to switch supplier and whether your deal is suitable for your consumer profile.

>> Find out more about how CREG scan works

Next, and if you decide to switch supplier, CREG Scan will direct you to certified comparison sites such as our site or the sites of the regional regulators (CWaPE, Brugel and VREG). This will let you find the ideal contract for your particular consumption and profile (type of dwelling, household composition, frequently used electrical appliances, etc.).

Energyprice.be: the first price comparison site certified by the CREG

If you want to compare energy prices and take out a new contract on the spot, you can visit our Energyprice.be site directly and free of charge.

As leader in the French-speaking market for online energy price comparison tools, we are the first site to have received CREG certification. Since being founded in 2013 by the company Wikipower, we have helped nearly 180,000 households and businesses to switch energy supplier free of charge. In addition, the consumers have not had to deal with any administrative procedures since the advisors take care of everything.

In December 2020, the average saving recorded on Energyprice.be was €276 on the annual gas and electricity bill. We also guarantee that you will receive the best rates, along with relevant, objective, high quality information. To obtain CREG certification, we undertake, every day, to:

• Provide clear information on the service;
• Offer the user an intuitive, user-friendly service;
• Be accurate and provide information that is complete, correct, relevant, updated and not misleading;
• Act responsibly in relation to the personal information exchanged between the user and us.

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In the press:  La Libre, Le Soir, RTL, 7sur7, L’Echo, Trends-Tendances, RTL, VRT, HLN, Nieuwsblad, De Morgen, De Standaard, BRF, VRT, HBVL.

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> Read our press release (in French)

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Archive – April 2020 (energy prices variations between April 2019 and April 2020 on a national and regional scale, for both fixed and variable prices):

	Fixed price trend	Variable price trend
National – electricity	– 13 %	– 18 %
National – gas	– 23 %	– 30 %
Wallonia – electricity	– 12 %	– 17 %
Wallonia – gas	– 22 %	– 30 %
Brussels – electricity	– 14 %	– 21 %
Brussels – gas	– 25 %	– 30 %