Dutch Energy Contracts: One Sum With Your Own kWh and m³

ACM spreads the energy-contract rules over several pages: what an offer must show, how the early-exit fee on a fixed contract is calculated, how fast you can leave a variable one, and what to do when moving. This guide puts them together, gives one sum to pri…

What you need to know

Last year's annual bill (jaarafrekening) is on the table and a renewal offer is in your inbox. Under the rules of the Dutch consumer and markets authority (ACM), that offer has to show the price per kWh, the price per m³ and the contract start and end dates; on a variable contract, the supplier has to announce a new price at least 1 month ahead.

This is not a deal and it recommends no supplier. It gives you two sums: one that turns any offer into a year of supply costs for your home, and one that estimates what leaving a fixed contract early costs. Every rule comes from ACM ConsuWijzer and Rijksoverheid, checked on 14 September 2026.

1. Find three numbers first

Before comparing offers, get your own numbers ready. You will use them in every step below:

✓ Electricity per year in kWh: on your last annual bill. The annual bill settles your actual use, refunding what you overpaid or charging what you underpaid.
✓ Gas per year in m³: also on the annual bill. If your home has no gas connection, this is 0.
✓ The end date of your current contract: in the contract. A cancellation fee only comes into play when you leave a fixed contract before that date.

Then ask yourself three things: do you have a smart meter (a dynamic contract requires one)? Are there solar panels on your roof (the rules change in 2027)? Might you move or leave the Netherlands within a year (that decides whether locking a price makes sense)?

2. Three contracts, three kinds of price

✓ Fixed (vast): the unit prices for electricity and gas stay the same for the whole term, so you pay no more when market prices rise; equally, you get no cut when they fall.
✓ Variable (variabel): the supplier may change the price per kWh and per m³, usually at set moments, for example every 3 months; a variable model contract (modelcontract) may change no more than 4 times a year.
✓ Dynamic (dynamisch): the electricity price changes every quarter hour, hour or day, and the gas price changes daily.

3. A bill has three parts, and a switch changes one

✓ Supply costs (leveringskosten): set by the supplier, with a fixed part and a usage part. This is the only part that changes when you switch.
✓ Grid costs (netbeheerkosten): collected by the supplier, but charged per region under a maximum ACM sets each year. There is 1 grid operator per region and you cannot choose it, so this part stays the same with any supplier.
✓ Taxes: energy tax and VAT are set by law and do not depend on the supplier either.

So when you compare two offers, compare the supply part only.

4. One sum with your own numbers: a year of supply

A year of supply = your kWh per year × price per kWh + your m³ per year × price per m³ + fixed supply fee per month × 12

Use the unit prices from the offer. The monthly instalment (termijnbedrag) is only an advance based on expected use and is settled against actual use later, so compare unit prices, not monthly instalments.

Here is an example; the figures only show the method and are not any supplier's offer. A household uses 2,500 kWh of electricity and 1,000 m³ of gas a year:

✓ Offer A: electricity €0.30, gas €1.50, fixed fee €7 a month → 750 + 1,500 + 84 = €2,334
✓ Offer B: electricity €0.28, gas €1.60, fixed fee €5 a month → 700 + 1,600 + 60 = €2,360

Offer B has the cheaper electricity yet costs €26 more a year, because this household uses a lot of gas. With your own kWh and m³ the answer may be the opposite, which is exactly why you should run the sum yourself.

5. Four things every offer must show

ACM requires suppliers to state all the costs you will pay. When an offer arrives, check at least these four:

✓ The price per kWh and per m³
✓ A yearly cost estimate based on the usage you gave
✓ The contract start and end date
✓ How the cancellation fee is calculated

A dynamic offer must also explain how prices move, that you need a smart meter, and that a yearly cost is hard to predict. If you have solar panels, the offer has to take returned electricity and its costs into account.

6. Fixed: the price is locked, and so is the exit

During a fixed term the supplier may not simply raise your prices; the exception is changes in taxes and grid costs, which can still be passed on.

Since 1 June 2023 the early-exit rules for fixed contracts have changed: the fee used to be a fairly low fixed amount, and it now depends on the loss the supplier makes because you leave early. ACM's formula is:

Fee = usage left until the contract ends × (the price you pay now − the same supplier's new price for the remaining period)

✓ Zero or less: no fee. In other words, if market prices have risen or stayed level, leaving early costs nothing.
✓ Example: 1,200 kWh left × (€0.30 − €0.25) = €60 (illustration only).
✓ Electricity and gas on one contract: each may carry its own fee, so ask first.
✓ A fee the supplier has calculated stays valid for 2 months: if you switch later than that, ask for a new calculation.

7. Variable and dynamic: you can always leave

✓ Variable price changes: the supplier announces new prices at least 1 month ahead. Each time, rerun the sum in section 4 with the new prices.
✓ Neither variable nor dynamic contracts carry a cancellation fee; you can end them at any time.
✓ The notice period is in your contract and is at most 1 month.
✓ Dynamic prices: good for you when prices are low, dearer when they rise; a smart meter is required.

8. Moving house, or maybe leaving the Netherlands

When you move you can take your contract along or pick a new supplier. But ACM is clear: ending a fixed contract before its term is up can cost a cancellation fee, even when you are moving.

✓ On moving day: photograph the electricity and gas meters at both homes as proof.
✓ Within 5 days after moving, send the readings to your supplier; a smart meter does this automatically.
✓ The final bill arrives within 6 weeks after you move or switch.
✓ No gas connection at the new home: cancel the gas part of the contract; with district heating (stadswarmte) you cannot choose your heat supplier.

If you might leave the Netherlands within a year: variable and dynamic contracts can end at any time without a fee; on a fixed contract, estimate the fee with the formula in section 6 first, then ask the supplier for the exact figure before you go.

9. Solar panels: net metering ends on 1 January 2027

✓ Until 31 December 2026: electricity you return to the grid can still be offset against what you use (salderingsregeling).
✓ From 1 January 2027: net metering stops.
✓ Payment for returned electricity: through 2030 it must be at least 50% of the bare electricity supply price (kale leveringstarief).
✓ Return fees (terugleverkosten): may only cover the supplier's real costs, supervised by ACM.

Before signing a contract that runs into 2027, ask how return payments and return fees will work.

10. Five steps before you sign, and the 14-day cooling-off period

✓ Step 1: find a year of kWh and m³ on your annual bill.
✓ Step 2: put the unit prices of each offer into the sum in section 4.
✓ Step 3: if you choose fixed, estimate the early-exit fee with section 6.
✓ Step 4: if you will move or leave, remember the 5-day deadline for meter readings.
✓ Step 5: changed your mind after signing? Cancel in writing (letter or email) to the new supplier within 14 days; you pay contract prices for energy used in that time, but no cancellation fee.

If the supplier never told you about the cooling-off period, it can run for up to 1 year.

11. Hokimi summary and sources

Compare energy contracts on the supply part only, run the offer's unit prices through your own yearly use, and price the exit before you lock a fixed rate. Still settling into a Dutch home? Continue with the Netherlands newcomers handbook, or prepare for a power cut with the 72-hour power outage guide.

Checked on 14 September 2026. General information, not financial advice; your contract and the supplier's written calculation decide the exact prices, terms and fees. Hokimi is not an energy supplier and this guide contains no affiliate links.