Breakeven Energy Price Calculator

The 5 Stacks Framework

At what energy price does this product line stop being profitable? Enter your numbers below to find out. Repeat for each product line to see which ones survive a price spike — and which ones don't.

Product Line

Step 1 — Revenue per unit

Selling price per unit What you charge the customer
€/unit

Step 2 — Non-energy costs per unit

Materials per unit Raw materials, packaging, components
€/unit
Labor per unit Direct labor allocated to this line
€/unit
Other per unit Overhead, logistics, depreciation — whatever applies
€/unit

Step 3 — Energy consumption

Monthly energy for this line Total kWh — estimate by shift hours or sub-meter
kWh/month
Units produced per month On this product line
units/month
Current energy price What you're paying now per kWh
€/kWh

How to use this

  1. Run it for each product line. Your highest-volume line first, then work down. The goal is to see which lines are resilient and which are fragile.
  2. Step 3 is where most people get stuck. If you don't have sub-metered data, estimate: what share of your total energy bill does this line use? 50%? 30%? Multiply your total monthly kWh by that percentage.
  3. The breakeven number is your decision point. If current energy prices are close to your breakeven, this line is at risk. If they're well below, you have headroom. If they're above — you're already losing money on every unit.
  4. Compare across lines. The lines with the lowest breakeven are your most vulnerable. The ones with the highest are your safest. Reprice, restructure, or retire accordingly.