Jetten: no signs of problems at large energy companies

Climate and energy minister Rob Jetten has “no signals at the moment” that large Dutch energy companies are in danger of getting into acute problems due to the strong fluctuations in the gas price. But he does have it investigated whether the current rules are sufficient in “a crisis situation such as the one we are currently in”.

Uncertainty about the war in Ukraine caused very strong price fluctuations in the European gas market in recent weeks. Energy companies often have long-term supply contracts at a fixed price with their customers and can therefore not always easily absorb such sharp price increases and decreases.

“I want to keep an eye on that in the coming period,” says Jetten. “To prevent such a domino effect as we have seen before in the banking crisis.” The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is already conducting an analysis, and is examining whether consumers are now sufficiently protected if their energy supplier gets into trouble.