Gas prices are going up: What households should do quickly now

The Iran War not only makes fuel more expensivebut also drives up gas prices. Wholesale prices for gas have risen significantly. Loud Verivox comparison portal The wholesale price for gas currently accounts for around half of the gas price for households.

Example: If, as some retail experts fear, the wholesale price doubles for a longer period of time, heating costs could rise by up to 50 percent.

• A household in a single-family home with an annual consumption of 20,000 kWh currently pays an average of 1,988 euros per year for gas.
• If prices increased by 50 percent, that would be an additional cost of almost 1,000 euros.

But it’s not that far yet. For most households, the increased wholesale prices initially have no direct impact, as they have longer-term contracts and price changes on the stock exchange only reach existing customers with a delay.

According to Verivox, there are no signs of an increase in new customer prices so far. On the contrary: at 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour, gas is currently even cheaper than a year ago (10.2 cents/kWh) (as of March 5, 2026).

“If stock market prices remain at a high level, new customer prices can also be expected to rise in the coming weeks,” explains Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox. In short, it may well be that the increased wholesale prices will also reach the end customer.

Of course, this is not 100 percent certain, but the uncertainty alone could drive up gas prices. But anyone who is currently in a contract with fixed prices is on the safe side.

However, it is definitely a good idea to look at the current contract and check how long the current prices will still apply. If the price guarantee doesn’t last too long, a comparison is worth it and then a change to a hopefully still cheaper tariff.