German energy supplier Eon expects prolonged rise in energy prices

German energy supplier Eon expects electricity and gas prices to remain elevated in the long term following the Iran war, citing sustained higher procurement costs on wholesale markets.

"The overall price level we had before the Iran conflict will not return anytime soon," Filip Thon, chief executive of Eon's sales subsidiary Eon Energie Deutschland, told Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in remarks published on Monday.

Thon said energy exchange prices are likely to stay above pre-crisis levels for some time, driven by significantly higher purchasing costs.

"At the energy exchanges, prices for the current year have at times risen by 75% for gas and 35% for electricity," he said. "For next year, we have already seen wholesale energy price increases of 60% for gas and 20% for electricity."

While short-term fluctuations cannot be passed directly on to retail tariffs, the overall trend is clear, Thon added.

Eon is Germany's largest energy supplier, with around 12 million electricity and 2 million gas supply contracts. Through various subsidiaries, it is also the country's largest electricity distribution network operator, managing about a third of the national grid length.