Industry slows relief zeal
Electricity price brake in January “completely unrealistic”
11/02/2022 11:48 am
The Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries considers the start of the electricity price brake envisaged by the government to be too ambitious. The system with a large number of different tariff structures that have to be billed correctly is too complex.
The introduction of the electricity price brake planned by the federal government in January cannot be achieved from the point of view of the energy industry. The head of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management, Kerstin Andreae, explained in Berlin that a law should be introduced on November 17 that would include a quota solution for electricity from January 1, 2023 and a levy on additional revenues.
“That is completely unrealistic in terms of timing. The law will only come into force shortly before Christmas. It’s not about regulating the volume and tone color like a radio. Instead, a converted stereo system has to be developed for a mass market with 40 million households .”
Andreae spoke of a complex system in which millions of consumers with a large number of different tariff structures had to be billed correctly. “Relief for people is necessary, but it must also be feasible so that it really arrives.”
The federal government plans that a basic quota of 80 percent of previous consumption for a gross price of 40 cents per kilowatt hour should be made available for electricity for households, as with the gas price brake. To co-finance the electricity price brake, “accidental profits” from companies on the electricity market are to be skimmed off retrospectively from September 1st. This affects producers of green electricity from wind and sun, for example, who have recently benefited from high prices on the stock exchange. The background to this is the sharp rise in gas prices and the pricing mechanism on the electricity market.