What are the electricity and gas suppliers in Brussels in 2022?

In recent years, Electricity and gas contracts for individuals have been reduced as a grief skin. One remembers for example the withdrawal of Luminus of the Brussels walk in 2018. This decision of the second Belgian supplier was a tough blow to the diversity of the offers in the bilingual territory.

What about 2022? Which energy suppliers can consumers still choose? Energie.be comparator makes for you an overview of the situation.

List of active gas and electricity suppliers in Brussels

Only a handful of irreproachable suppliers still offer their products and services to Brussels. Although they are only three, they do not leave their clients behind. Discover these electricity and gas suppliers who continue to offer competitive offers to the capital, Others have preferred to withdraw.

ENGIE (ex-Electrabel), the historical supplier

ENGIE is a supplier that is no longer available. Belgian market leader, the former Electrabel offers a wide variety of energy contracts to meet the needs of all. A range that can also be accompanied by many additional solutions, such as a smart thermostat (Boxx). But does the Belgian energy manager offer the best services at the best prices? Everything depends on your usage profile. A comparison with the other suppliers present in the Brussels-Capital area is required before deciding.

>> View all ENGY offers

TotalEnergy, a supplier in the bright future

If there is a supplier that benefited greatly from Luminus withdrawal from the Brussels market, it is TotalEnergies (old, Lampiris). Third place in terms of market shares on the national podium, TotalEnergiesse is back to second in the Brussels Region.

As a reminder, Lampiris had been integrated into the French oil group Total in 2016, But it is since February 1st 2022 that the French geant has taken over all the activities of the provider of logging. However, this buyback does not go against the local and environmental values of the former Lampiris. In addition, TotalEnergies offers discounts on its energy contracts. Of course, they are temporary, but they are still always. However, once finished, the informed consumer should recompare their tariffs in order to continue enjoying the best prices.

>> View all TotalEnergies offers

Aeco, the Green Energy Cooper

You prefer a consumer who actively works for the energy transition? Then you could join Aeco. This Citizen Cooper provides its customers withElectricity 100% green and local, produced by her care. To do this, you only have to join the cooper by acqueating at least one share. This addition allows you to invest concretely in the production of clean energy (wind, hydraulic and solar). So it is no surprise that Aeco obtained the highest score in the Greenpeace leaderboard.

>> View all Aeco offers

Why so few suppliers in the capital?

These suppliers all offer advantageous contracts. There is, however, a question to ask: why are there only three suppliers in Brussels for the resident customer, when in Flanders and Wallonia there are two times as many? Would Audrey Hepburn’s hometown lack charm in the eyes of other actors on the energy market? This is not so much a question of preference as a question of profitability. Many suppliers are cautious about servicing such a risky market and still prefer to abandon it.

>> Read also: The future of the Belgian energy sector in the hands of a few suppliers?

Lack of room to maneuver against bad payers

The first reason for discouraging suppliers is linked to the customer protection system. Indeed, in Brussels area, Electricity and gas suppliers are exposed tosignificant financial risks in the event of non-payment of a customer. Design, for a supplier, it is much harder and cumbersome to cut electricity or gas to a bad payer in Brussels area than elsewhere in Belgium.

First, the principle of budget counter does not exist in Brussels. In case of non-payment of a customer after reminders and formal notice, the supplier can only request Sibelga, the Brussels distribution network manager, from it install a power limiter (2. 00 watts). This means that the supplier must continue to provide the customer with power limiter, even if he still does not pay his invoices. This could not happen with a budget meter since the customer can only consume the amount of energy he loaded on his reload card.

Next, if the supplier wants to end the supply, it has to pass through a justice of the peace – at least twice. In fact, the first time deals with the cut and the second time the payment of the invoices. In addition, even if the judge decides in favour of the supplier, It is possible that they will need to continue providing the customeras we will see at the next point.

The absence of an “X provider”

In the three regions, where it has been possible to prove that a bad customer pays is clearly wrong, the distribution network manager (GRD) is allowed to cut its access point.

In Wallonia and Flanders, if for some reason a point of access cannot be sealed, the GRD then takes over the basic supplier to ensure energy supply. From then on, it is said that the customer is switched to X provider, and it will be charged at the maximum market price.

In Brussels, the concept of provider X does not exist. The access point remains under the responsibility of the basic supplier, even if the justice of the peace authorized the cut. This means that the company in charge of supplying this access point can become very costly.

Sibelga finger pointed

In addition, suppliers declare measures that minimize Sibelga’s accountability, the Brussels GRD. In line with their eyes, they are denouncing theno obligation of automated social supply at the GRD, and its rebilling system.

For the first point, this means that Sibelga (unlike other GRDs in the country) is not required to guarantee access to energy for public consumers. As a consequence, many predictable energy metrics are supplied to suppliers at full price, which increases the risk of non-payment.

With regard to the second point, it is important to know that in Brussels Provider and not Distribution Network Manager invoice customers to open or close access points. Specifically, Sibelga charges the customer to the supplier who, in turn, has to charge the customer. In this configuration, GRD is guaranteed to receive its payment, but this is not necessarily the case for the provider.

Removing Luminus from Brussels and worried about Brugel

All of these reasons led large suppliers such asEneco to stalk the Brussels market. But this mostly resulted in the withdrawal of Luminusin 2018, which is the second largest energy supplier in Belgium.

This event benefited from its competitors, but it also brought them large inconveyors. Indeed, on leaving the European capital, EDF’s Belgian subsidiary has left many customers in default behind. They were assigned to the other active suppliers in Brussels Region. It can easily be assumed that it did not have to be enthusiastic.

As a result of this, the regional regulator, Brugel, expressed his concerns in a report. Indeed, it fears that the lack of skill in the Brussels housing market will lead to price rises. to the detriment of the already fragile customers. This situation would nullify the benefits of a steady march.

Choose supplier with power comparator

With reduced offer, It is all the more important for consumers to compare offers and enter promotions when they feel. The choice of contract is more limited, but it remains possible to take advantage of competitive offers. To do this, it is crucial to use a energy comparator that continuously updates supplier tariff charts. This is the case of Comparator-Energy.be, the first price comparator certified by CREG.

Would you like to receive an energy audit before you decide? So contact one of our Energy Advisors for free at 0800 37,369 to review your consumption and better understand your needs.