diff --git a/rules/retrieve.smk b/rules/retrieve.smk
index 0f590bf9..0b60ee2e 100644
--- a/rules/retrieve.smk
+++ b/rules/retrieve.smk
@@ -220,12 +220,6 @@ if config["enable"]["retrieve"]:
 if config["enable"]["retrieve"]:
 
     rule retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices:
-        input:
-            HTTP.remote(
-                "https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Economy/Prices/Publications/Downloads-Energy-Price-Trends/energy-price-trends-xlsx-5619002.xlsx?__blob=publicationFile",
-                keep_local=True,
-                static=True,
-            ),
         output:
             "data/validation/energy-price-trends-xlsx-5619002.xlsx",
         log:
@@ -233,5 +227,7 @@ if config["enable"]["retrieve"]:
         resources:
             mem_mb=5000,
         retries: 2
-        run:
-            move(input[0], output[0])
+        conda:
+            "../envs/environment.yaml"
+        script:
+            "../scripts/retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices.py"
diff --git a/scripts/retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices.py b/scripts/retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11e351ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: : 2023 The PyPSA-Eur Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+"""
+Retrieve monthly fuel prices from Destatis.
+"""
+
+import logging
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from _helpers import configure_logging, progress_retrieve
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    if "snakemake" not in globals():
+        from _helpers import mock_snakemake
+
+        snakemake = mock_snakemake("retrieve_monthly_fuel_prices")
+        rootpath = ".."
+    else:
+        rootpath = "."
+    configure_logging(snakemake)
+
+    url = "https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Economy/Prices/Publications/Downloads-Energy-Price-Trends/energy-price-trends-xlsx-5619002.xlsx?__blob=publicationFile"
+
+    to_fn = Path(rootpath) / Path(snakemake.output[0])
+
+    logger.info(f"Downloading monthly fuel prices from '{url}'.")
+    disable_progress = snakemake.config["run"].get("disable_progressbar", False)
+    progress_retrieve(url, to_fn, disable=disable_progress)
+
+    logger.info(f"Monthly fuel prices available at {to_fn}")