How electricity pricing works in the Netherlands
Dynamic electricity contracts have grown quickly in the Netherlands, and the Dutch market has one quirk that makes it different from its neighbours: the grid cost does not vary with how much you use.
Dynamic contracts
A dynamic contract passes the hourly wholesale price through to you, plus a supplier margin. Several Dutch suppliers offer them, and adoption has risen sharply since the price volatility of recent years. On a fixed contract, the hourly price is irrelevant to your bill.
Energiebelasting
The energy tax is charged per kilowatt-hour and is substantial — for 2026 it is roughly 11 cents per kWh including VAT in the first consumption band, down from about 12.3 cents the year before. This is a flat addition regardless of the hour, which means it compresses the relative difference between cheap and expensive hours. A wholesale price that doubles does not double your bill.
Netbeheerkosten are fixed, not per-kWh
This is the important structural difference. Dutch network charges are billed as a fixed annual amount based on your connection size, not as a rate per kilowatt-hour. Nothing you do with timing changes them. It also means that, unlike in Sweden or Denmark, there is no point asking for your postcode — your network operator cannot affect the hourly price you see here, so we do not pretend otherwise.
Salderingsregeling and solar
The net metering scheme has been central to Dutch household solar economics, and its phase-out changes the calculation for anyone with panels. As net metering winds down, the value of using your own solar production at the moment you generate it rises sharply, which makes hourly awareness more useful, not less.
Practical advice
Because the energy tax is a large flat component, the percentage saving from shifting a load is smaller in the Netherlands than in, say, Denmark. It is still worth doing for the big loads — car charging, heat pump, dishwasher — but the marginal case for shifting a kettle is weak. Focus on the loads measured in kilowatt-hours, not watt-hours.
Spot a figure that looks wrong? Tell us. Corrections and the sources behind every tax and grid assumption are listed on the methodology page.