Electricity is transmitted to your home via a network. Managing and maintaining this network costs money. This is why a distribution cost is charged.

The distribution cost is one of the three main parts of your energy bill.

• The energy cost (38 % of the bill)
• The distribution cost (43 % of the bill)
• Taxes and federal contributions (19 % of the bill).

The distribution cost included in your bill covers not only the actual distribution cost, but also other costs that the distribution system operator (link in French) has to collect and pass on to the relevant parties.

In Brussels, the distribution system operator is Sibelga.

What do the distribution costs for electricity include?

The distribution cost in your bill consists of four main elements:

1. The core tasks of the distribution system operator (24 % of the bill)
2. Regional public service obligations (6 % of the bill)
3. Transmission costs (5 % of the bill) passed on to the transmission network operator, Elia
4. Federal and regional levies and municipal fee for occupation of the public domain (8 % of the bill) passed on to the authorities
   (Source figures: Tariefstudie CREG tariff study and Sibelga)

1. Distribution system operator’s tasks (24 % of the bill)

• Management, maintenance and development of the entire electricity network
• Management of all electricity meters
• Management of consumption data
• Management of the operation of the market (customer exchanges, supplier exchanges, etc.)

Some figures for the Brussels energy network:

• Electricity cables, over 6,300 km
• Electricity meters, almost 690,000
• Meter readings to be taken: 1,800,000 annual and monthly meter readings (electricity and gas)

2. Regional public service obligations (6 % of the bill)

By order of the regional authorities, the distribution system operator also has to provide specific public services:

• Management of the street lighting on municipal roads. In Brussels, this means being responsible for over 76,000 street lamps and carrying out around 8,800 repairs every year.
• Protection of weaker consumers
  This is done by supplying energy to those with ‘protected customer’ status and fitting a capacity limiter for customers with payment difficulties.
• Taking responsibility for the power supply at markets and festivals.

3. Federal, regional and municipal levies and fees (8 % of the bill)

The distribution cost also includes certain taxes and levies that the distribution system operator has to pass on to various government bodies.

• Federal contribution

This contribution is used to fund the dismantling of all nuclear research infrastructure belonging to the state (Mol) and the functioning of the federal energy regulator, the CREG.

•  Regional contribution

The regional contribution is used to fund the energy grants, the management of the green power certificates and the functioning of the Brussels energy regulator, Brugel.

• Fee for occupation of the public domain

The distribution system operator pays a fee to the municipalities to be able to use the public highway for its electricity cables.

4. Transmission cost (5 % of the bill)

The transmission cost covers the cost of the infrastructure need to carry the energy from the generating station or from the border to the Brussels distribution network.
This cost is passed on in full by the distribution system operator to the transmission system operator, Elia. (For more information, see: How is the energy market organised?)

Depending on the energy supplier, this may be indicated separately on your bill or included in the cost.