The federal government wants to prevent energy suppliers from cashing in on excessive tariff jumps in the shadow of state aid. To this end, price increases that cannot be justified by higher procurement costs are to be prevented until the end of 2023. The opposition is calling for even stricter control measures.
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Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said on Sunday: “First of all, I assume that everyone will of course comply with the law and, in the emergency situation we are in, will only pass on the prices that are really necessary to consumers.” But if you should consider “testing a gray area”, the abuse clause provided in the law is certainly “a clear instrument” to take action against it.
The price brakes should take effect from March, and retrospective relief from January is also planned. In order to put a stop to abuse, according to the drafts, price increases should be prohibited throughout 2023 – unless suppliers can prove “that the increase is objectively justified”, for example because of “market-based price and cost developments”. So not every increase is automatically illegal, the ministry explained – but increases that are “abusive and unjustified”.
The background is that the price brakes are only intended to capture part of the consumption. For private households, a basic amount of 80 percent of previous consumption is to be subsidized by the state
– capped at 12 cents per kilowatt hour for gas and 40 cents at
Electricity. In addition, current, high market prices continue to apply. Therefore, “behavioral leeway on the provider side” should be limited, as it says in the drafts. In other words: that suppliers drive up prices more because the state is pushing them down anyway. Customers would feel this in the “unbraked” consumable part.
In many households, letters from providers with tariff increases for 2023 are already fluttering in. That was more common at the end of the year, explained a ministry spokesman. The reason is legal deadlines: If price increases are to come at the beginning of January, they would have to be announced four to six weeks in advance. They would now also be directly covered by the planned brake rules: As far as the amount is concerned, actual procurement costs could be passed on, but not abusive increases beyond that.
A wave with sometimes significant increases at the beginning of the year is already emerging, as comparison portals and consumer advocates are observing. The price surcharges vary from region to region. The head of the Federation of Energy Consumers, Leonora Holling, told the “Bild” newspaper (Saturday): “We advise consumers to lodge an objection.” The planned increases are not in proportion to the price development on the stock exchange.
The left in the Bundestag called for stricter controls with “claws and teeth”. Group leader Dietmar Bartsch told the editorial network Germany (Sunday): “The federal government must approve every new tariff for 2023 for electricity and gas.” It should not be that the price brakes become an invitation to cash in for utilities and a bottomless pit for taxpayers. The fact that one supplier raises the price to 53 cents per kilowatt hour and another to 66 cents can only be explained by the “current take-along mentality” of some providers.
CDU Federal Deputy Andreas Jung told the “Tagesspiegel” that the brakes should help citizens and companies through the crisis, “but not improve the balance sheets of suppliers”. Specifically, the government’s planned ban on abuse is aimed at labor prices – i.e. the cents per kilowatt hour depending on consumption. “The energy price multiplied by your annual consumption is added to the basic price and thus results in your billing amount on the annual bill,” says the Federal Network Agency in a basic explanation.
Habeck also referred to a planned “sharper sword than we otherwise know” in possible proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office: According to the draft laws, the office does not have to prove that abuse has occurred – but the companies have to prove that this is not the case . The Cartel Office should also be able to oblige suppliers to stop abusive behavior or to pay monetary penalties.
The energy industry supports a ban on abuse. “It must not happen that individual companies take advantage of the crisis,” said the head of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management, Kerstin Andreae. Appropriate adjustments should still be possible, and the drafts do not see any contradiction to that. Because extreme price increases in wholesale in the past few months have presented the suppliers with enormous challenges. They would have to be able to pass on sharply increased procurement costs to customers. The competition between the providers is high. “No company can afford to raise prices more than necessary.”
Left criticizes insufficient protection against energy price increases
The left has criticized the planned protection against excessive tariff increases in the gas and electricity price brake as insufficient and calls for stricter controls. “The federal government must approve every new tariff for 2023 for electricity and gas,” said parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch to the editorial network Germany (Sunday). It should not be that the price brakes become an invitation to cash in for the suppliers and a bottomless pit for the taxpayers. Controls with “claws and teeth” are necessary, which correct the prices downwards, Bartsch demanded.
The Union also called for strict controls against abusive increases in electricity and gas prices. The deputy CDU chairman Andreas Jung told the “Tagesspiegel”: “It must not be that black sheep among the energy suppliers earn a golden nose at the expense of the general public.” Billions would be estimated for the gas and electricity price brake. They should help citizens and companies through the crisis, “but not improve the balance sheets of utilities”. Where price increases are not matched by correspondingly increased costs, this is an abuse.
The federal government wants to put a stop to “abuse” of the price brakes through excessive tariff increases by utilities. To this end, price increases that cannot be justified by rising procurement costs are to be prevented until the end of 2023. Not every increase is automatically illegal, but increases that are “abusive and unjustified”, explained the Ministry of Economic Affairs with a view to corresponding draft laws.
The price brakes planned by the traffic light coalition are intended to cushion the sharp rise in costs for households and companies. For this purpose, a basic consumption of gas and electricity is to be subsidized by the state, but current, high market prices continue to apply. The brakes should take effect from March 2023, but retrospective relief is planned for January and February.
/sam/DP/he
BERLIN (dpa-AFX)
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