With a dynamic energy contract, your electricity price follows the wholesale market, so it changes throughout the day. Here is how it works.
Where does the price come from?
Dynamic contracts are linked to prices on the day-ahead market (the spot market) for electricity and gas, which means prices are known one day in advance. For gas there is one price per day [1].
The day-ahead market is a daily auction. At EPEX SPOT, the order book closes every day at 12:00 (CET) for delivery the following day, and the results are published from 12:55 [3].
Per hour or per quarter-hour?
Since delivery day 1 October 2025, the day-ahead electricity price has been set per quarter-hour instead of per hour: 96 prices a day instead of 24 [2][4]. Some suppliers bill per quarter-hour, others stick to an hourly price [2]. Check your contract to see which applies to you.
When can you see tomorrow's prices?
According to the ACM (the Dutch consumer and markets authority), customers on a dynamic contract can see the next day's electricity prices every day at around 16:00 [2]. You can find them on Electricity price tomorrow as soon as they are available.
What do you pay on top of the market price?
The market price is only part of your rate. Your supplier adds a markup (purchasing fee), and you also pay energy tax, VAT, fixed supply charges and network charges. The prices on this site are bare market prices excluding VAT, so your final price per kWh will be higher. Ask your supplier for the exact breakdown.
When will electricity be cheap tomorrow?
It varies from day to day and depends partly on how much wind and solar power there is. There is no fixed rule. The ACM points out that quarter-hour prices exist because growing weather-dependent generation makes it ever harder to keep supply and demand in balance [2]. So just look at the actual prices:
- Electricity price today
- Electricity price tomorrow
- The homepage shows the cheapest 3-hour block.
Not sure which type of contract suits you? Read Dynamic vs fixed contract. For how to plan your usage, see Cheapest hours for electricity today.
Sources
- ACM, ACM en Energie-Nederland maken afspraken over energiecontracten met dynamische prijzen (accessed 17-10-2026): https://www.acm.nl/nl/publicaties/acm-en-energie-nederland-maken-afspraken-over-energiecontracten-met-dynamische-prijzen
- ACM, Energiemonitor ACM: Tarieven licht gedaald, start verwarmingsseizoen goed moment om energiecontract te checken (accessed 17-10-2026): https://www.acm.nl/nl/publicaties/energiemonitor-acm-tarieven-licht-gedaald-start-verwarmingsseizoen-goed-moment-om-energiecontract-te-checken
- EPEX SPOT, Trading Products (accessed 17-10-2026): https://www.epexspot.com/en/tradingproducts
- EPEX SPOT, 15-minute products live on EPEX SPOT Day-Ahead markets (30 September 2025): https://www.epexspot.com/en/news/15-minute-products-live-epex-spot-day-ahead-markets
This guide was written with the help of AI and checked against sources.