Lasttarife

Lasttarife are pricing schemes used in energy markets that base charges on a customer’s load or peak demand rather than solely on total energy consumption. The concept centers on the idea that the cost to supply electricity increases with higher peak power requirements, so tariffs may include charges tied to contracted capacity or measured maximum demand in a billing period. Lasttarife are most common for commercial and industrial customers, but some markets also expose larger residential users to demand-based components.

Two common forms are Spitzenlasttarife and Grundlasttarife. Spitzenlasttarife impose charges according to peak demand reached during the billing interval, encouraging load shifting away from peak hours. Grundlasttarife focus on the base level of demand that must be met even outside of peak periods. In practice, many Lasttarife combine a fixed basic charge (Grundpreis) with variable terms based on energy consumption (Arbeitspreis) and a demand component (Leistungspreis or Lastgebühr). The precise calculation depends on meter data, usually captured by advanced metering infrastructure that records hourly or sub-hourly load.

Rationale and impact. Lasttarife aim to reflect the true cost of supplying electricity and to incentivize grid-friendly behavior, such as shifting usage to off-peak times or reducing peak demand. They can lower total costs for flexible customers but may raise bills for users with inflexible demand. Regulators and utilities provide guidance on measurement, billing periods, and fair access to metering data. See also time-of-use pricing and demand charges.