Rising electricity prices in Denmark have now canceled out roughly the entire household saving from the government’s near-total cut to the electricity tax, according to a new orientation sent to Folketinget.
The Climate, Energy and Utilities Committee sent the orientation on oil, gas and electricity prices to Folketinget on October 7. As DR reports, the document states that in the current situation, the tax relief is approximately the same size as the price increase.
The committee notes that the raw electricity price in Denmark has risen 98 percent since the start of the war in the Middle East. The conflict broke out in February 2026. The orientation also stresses that prices can change from week to week, partly because of the weather.
What the tax cut was supposed to deliver
When the government proposed lowering the electricity tax to the EU minimum rate, the levy fell from about 90 øre to one øre per kilowatt-hour. DR’s earlier calculations showed clear room in household budgets. A family using 4,500 kilowatt-hours a year stood to save 4,000 kroner annually.
The same calculations put the yearly saving at 2,700 kroner for a pensioner couple and 1,400 kroner for a person living alone. According to DR reporting from September 30, the reduced rate is scheduled to apply through December 31, 2027. The committee’s orientation adds that prices remain substantially lower than during the energy crisis in 2022.
Betina Grimstrup, a personal finance expert at Nordea, points to reasons for the price rise beyond the unrest in the Middle East. As she explains to DR, more households turn on heating and heat pumps as the colder months arrive. That rising demand naturally pushes prices up.
What other outlets report about September
TV 2 reported that September 2026 was the most expensive electricity month since the 2022 energy crisis. The outlet noted at the same time that the tax cut still reduced consumers’ total electricity costs.
In separate reporting, TV 2 explained that September’s high raw price was partly offset by the lower levy. The final price, including tax, VAT and grid charges, came out lower than in September 2025.
Grimstrup encourages households to review their electricity bills over the coming quarters. Per her advice to DR, anyone whose expected saving has already gone to other spending will need to find the money again. She points to watching when prices are low and then running the dishwasher, the washing machine or charging the car at those hours.
What the price rise means for international households in Denmark
Electricity bills in Denmark combine several elements: the raw market price, the state electricity tax known as elafgiften, grid tariffs from your local netselskab, and 25 percent VAT. The cut described by DR applies only to the state tax component, so a rising market price can erase the effect without any change in tax policy. Understanding how electricity and energy billing is structured here makes the swings on a quarterly bill easier to follow.
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For newcomers who budgeted around the announced saving of 1,400 to 4,000 kroner a year, the committee’s orientation means that money may not appear in practice this autumn. Nordea’s Grimstrup points households toward shifting consumption, and readers on variable-rate contracts can check when electricity is cheaper at night. What is not yet known is where prices go next, since the committee itself says the level can move from week to week depending on weather.
