Although many energy suppliers are now lowering their prices, according to the Labor Chamber, they are deliberately making it difficult for their customers to benefit from the lower prices. E-Control board member Wolfgang Urbantschitsch also criticized the energy suppliers’ communication as “anything but transparent”.
AK energy price expert Christina Brichta-Hartmann is demanding from energy suppliers price reductions in existing contracts instead of offering new contracts and working with discounts or free energy days. With some providers, customers would also receive the cheaper rate without switching. The AK calls on the energy suppliers “to implement classic, real price reductions in these existing contracts,” Brichta-Hartmann said in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal” on Monday.
„Everything other than transparent“
E-Control board member Urbantschitsch also criticized the fact that the price reductions would often only take place on discounts or Fridays. That was “anything but transparent”, according to the energy regulator in the “Morgenjournal”. “If that discount were to disappear again, you would certainly return to the high price. And that is also something that we as E-Control criticize. That means you have to see that the energy industry is now also trying to get more transparency.”
But there is also “a lot of legal uncertainty about price changes at the moment”. It is not easy for companies to find a way “to adjust prices in a legally certain way”. But that also depends on the contracts offered and the type of communication – companies have some catching up to do in adapting communication to individual customers.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
