Energy contracts in the Netherlands: how to choose and switch

Three kinds of contract

Contract	Price	Leaving
Fixed (vast), 1, 3 or 5 years	Stays the same for the whole term	Early: you may pay a fee
Variable (variabel)	The supplier can change it, often on 1 January and 1 July	Free, 30 days’ notice
Dynamic (dynamisch)	Changes every hour or quarter hour for electricity, every day for gas	Free

Which one? Fixed if you want to know what you’ll pay. Variable if you want to be free to switch. Dynamic only if you can move your use to cheap hours, for example with an electric car or a home battery.

What it costs

Average prices for a new contract on 29 October 2026, including tax and VAT:

Contract	Electricity per kWh	Gas per m³
Variable	€0.32	€1.60
1 year fixed	€0.31	€1.67
3 years fixed	€0.28	€1.57

The cheapest offers were lower, around €0.27 per kWh. On top of the price per unit, your bill has:

• A fixed supply fee (vaste leveringskosten), usually around €100 a year per product.
• Grid costs (netbeheerkosten), about €740 to €750 a year for electricity and gas together in 2026. They go to the company that owns the cables and pipes in your area. You can’t choose it, so these costs are the same whichever supplier you pick.
• Energy tax (energiebelasting): €0.11 per kWh and €0.73 per m³ in 2026. You get €629 a year back per home as a tax credit, shown on your bill.
• 21% VAT over all of it.

You pay a monthly advance (termijnbedrag). Once a year you get the annual bill (jaarafrekening), which settles what you really used.

Welcome bonuses: read this first

Most suppliers give new customers a bonus on a fixed contract. On 29 October 2026, one comparison site listed these for 1-year contracts:

• Around €400 to €535: UnitedConsumers, Mega, Eneco, Vandebron, Vattenfall
• Around €150 to €300: Greenchoice, ENGIE, Budget Thuis, Oxxio, Energiedirect, Essent

Things to know:

• The bonus usually comes off your final bill after the first year. You don’t get it as cash on day one.
• A big bonus can hide a high price. Compare the total cost for a year, minus the bonus, not the bonus alone. Comparison sites show this as the yearly cost.
• Leave early and you may lose it. Check the conditions before you sign.
• Amounts differ between sites and the supplier’s own website, and change every few weeks.
• Variable contracts almost never come with a bonus.

How to switch

1. Pick a new contract and sign up with the new supplier. That’s all you do: it cancels the old one for you.
2. On a variable contract, switching is free, with 30 days’ notice.
3. On a fixed contract, leaving early can cost a fee. For contracts signed since 1 June 2023, it may be at most what the supplier really loses. Ask the new supplier or check your contract.
4. You have 14 days to change your mind after signing, and you keep your old contract.

The power doesn’t go off when you switch. Only the company that bills you changes.

Solar panels: big change on 1 January 2027

Until now, power you put back on the grid was simply subtracted from what you used: net metering (saldering). This ends on 1 January 2027. After that:

• The supplier pays you a feed-in fee for power you put back. Until 2030 it must be at least half the bare electricity price (before tax).
• The supplier may charge feed-in costs (terugleverkosten), but only what it really costs them.
• Feed-in fees and costs differ a lot between suppliers. Check them before you lock yourself into a fixed contract.

What changes in 2027

• Grid costs will go up. The grid operators have proposed about €865 to €915 a year, up from about €745. The ACM decides on 27 November 2026.
• Energy tax: electricity goes down slightly (€0.107 per kWh), gas goes up (€0.746 per m³). The tax credit stays about €629.

I'm moving. What do I do?

• Tell your supplier at least 2 weeks before you move. You can usually take your contract with you.
• On moving day, write down or photograph the meter readings at the old and new home. Send them within 5 days. Otherwise the supplier estimates them.
• If you’re the first person in a new home, the grid operator sends you a letter asking you to choose a supplier within 20 days.
• The final bill for the old home comes within 6 weeks.

I rent. Do I need my own contract?

Only if you pay the energy company yourself. If your landlord supplies the energy, you pay it through your service costs (servicekosten) and don’t need your own contract. Your rental contract says which applies.