Fixed, variable, dynamic or model contract: choosing a Dutch energy contract

Most guides to Dutch energy contracts start with price. If you have moved to the Netherlands from somewhere else, price is only half of the question. The other half is time. Dutch energy contracts are legal commitments with defined lengths, notice periods and – in some cases – a termination fee, and the answer to “how long will I actually be living at this address?” changes which contract makes sense far more than a few cents per kilowatt hour does.

The Dutch market offers four options: a fixed contract, a variable contract, a dynamic contract, and a fourth one that is barely described in English at all – the modelcontract, a standard contract whose terms are set by the regulator rather than by the supplier, and which every Dutch supplier is legally obliged to offer.

The fixed contract (vast contract)

A vast contract fixes your rates for an agreed period – commonly one, two, three or five years. The delivery tariffs for electricity and gas written into the contract are the tariffs you pay for the whole term, regardless of what happens on the wholesale market.

The advantage is budgeting certainty. You know roughly what your monthly instalment will be, and a price shock on the international gas market does not reach you until the contract ends. The disadvantage is the mirror image: if wholesale prices fall, you keep paying the old rate. And because a fixed contract runs for a definite period, ending it early can trigger a termination fee (opzegvergoeding) – the one situation in the Dutch market where leaving costs money. That is the clause internationals most often overlook.

The variable contract (variabel contract)

A variabel contract runs for an indefinite period. The supplier can adjust the rates, normally at set moments during the year and always with advance notice, so you are told before a change takes effect rather than after.

Because the contract has no end date, there is no termination fee – ever. You can leave with a notice period of at most one month. The trade-off is that your rate is set by the supplier’s own pricing policy, which moves more slowly than the market in both directions: you are not fully exposed to a price spike, but you also do not benefit quickly when wholesale prices drop. In practice a variable contract is the middle setting: less certainty than fixed, less volatility than dynamic, and complete freedom to switch.

The dynamic contract (dynamisch contract)

A dynamisch contract passes the wholesale market through to you directly. Electricity prices change every hour, and gas prices every day. Your bill therefore depends not only on how much you use, but on when.

This suits households that can shift consumption – charging an electric car overnight, running a heat pump or a washing machine at the cheapest hours, or feeding a home battery. It suits a household with a fixed daily rhythm and no flexibility considerably less. Dynamic contracts also run for an indefinite period, so like variable contracts they carry no termination fee and a notice period of at most one month. What they do carry is variance: a cold, still week in winter can be expensive, and you will see it.

The modelcontract: the option almost nobody explains in English

The modelcontract is the least-discussed contract in the Dutch market and, for a lot of internationals, the most useful. It is a standard contract whose terms and conditions are set by the ACM – the Autoriteit Consument & Markt, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets – rather than by the energy supplier. Every supplier licensed to deliver to households in the Netherlands is legally required to offer it. You will rarely see it advertised, because there is nothing for a supplier to differentiate on.

That is precisely the point. Because the conditions are identical everywhere, suppliers offering a modelcontract are directly comparable on one variable: the price. No welcome bonus, no cashback structure, no bundled service, no clause you missed on page four.

Since 2026 there are two versions. One runs for an indefinite period with variable rates; the other runs for a definite period with fixed rates. The new modelcontracts have had formal validity since 1 January 2026, and suppliers were required to offer them by around 1 April 2026. The indefinite version behaves like a variable contract – no end date, no termination fee, one month’s notice. The definite-term version gives you rate certainty and is, like any fixed-term contract, subject to a termination fee if you leave early.

For a household that does not know how long it will stay in the country, the indefinite modelcontract solves the specific problem: you get a regulated, transparent contract you can walk away from at a month’s notice, without having to work out whether a supplier’s own small print contains something you would rather it did not. If you want to see what suppliers currently charge on comparable terms, you can run the figures for your own postcode and usage.

Ending a contract: notice period and the opzegvergoeding

Three rules matter here, and they apply to every supplier.

Notice period. For any Dutch energy contract, the notice period is at most one month. If you switch through a new supplier, that supplier normally handles the cancellation with the old one.

Cooling-off period. If you sign online or otherwise at a distance, you have fourteen days to withdraw without giving a reason.

Termination fee. A supplier may only charge an opzegvergoeding if all three of the following are true: the contract is for a definite period, that period has not yet ended, and the fee is stated in the contract. This means there is no termination fee on a variable contract or a dynamic contract, and none on the indefinite-term modelcontract. Only fixed-term contracts can carry one.

The fee is not a flat penalty. It is calculated as your remaining consumption until the end of the contract multiplied by the difference between your current rate and the rate the supplier charges today for an agreement with the same remaining term. If market prices have risen since you signed, that difference can be zero or close to it – leaving early may cost you nothing. If prices have fallen, it will cost you something, because the supplier is compensating for the cheaper contract it must now sell.

One point that surprises people every year: moving house, moving abroad or emigrating is not an exception. If you signed a fixed-term contract and you leave the country before it ends, the termination fee remains payable. The ACM rules from 2023 on termination fees were replaced by the new Energiewet on 1 January 2026, so any older English-language page quoting maximum amounts per year of remaining term is out of date. The step-by-step process is set out in more detail on our page about what actually happens when you cancel.

Solar panels and the end of net metering in 2027

If your home has solar panels (zonnepanelen), one date should shape your contract choice. From 1 January 2027 the Dutch net metering scheme (salderingsregeling) ends. Instead of offsetting the electricity you feed back against the electricity you draw, households will receive a feed-in payment (terugleververgoeding) of at least 50% of the bare supply rate, a floor that applies until 2030.

The practical consequence is that the feed-in terms in your contract – which most people have never read, because under net metering they barely mattered – become a real part of what the contract is worth. If you are considering a multi-year fixed contract that runs past 2027, check what it says about feed-in and about any charges for delivering back to the grid, not only what it says about the rate you pay. We cover the mechanics separately in our explanation of what changes for solar households in 2027.

Which contract fits which situation

You do not know how long you are staying, or you may leave within a year. The indefinite-term modelcontract or a variable contract. No termination fee, one month’s notice, and the modelcontract has the advantage of regulated conditions you can compare like for like.

You are staying for several years and want predictable bills. A fixed contract, or the definite-term modelcontract. Match the term to how long you are confident you will be at the address – not to the longest term on offer.

You have an electric car, a heat pump or a battery, and you can shift when you use power. A dynamic contract is the one designed for you. Without that flexibility, it mostly adds variance.

You have solar panels and are choosing a contract that runs past 2027. Read the feed-in terms before the headline rate.

Frequently asked questions