Tyrolean AK President Erwin Zangerl was fed up: “The increases must be controlled!”, he demanded and filed a lawsuit against the state energy supplier Tiwag. Now it has arrived: the long-awaited verdict. And even though it is not yet legally binding, it contains a certain explosive power. According to the first court, the increase in the electricity price by Tiwag in 2022 was not legally compliant and thus confirms the legal opinion of the AK.
“The verdict can be seen with confidence as a milestone in our work and I am happy that the court shares our opinion,” applauded AK President Zangerl in an initial statement. The model lawsuit that the AK filed in May 2023 concerns important fundamental questions and, among other things, information about the actual purchase costs to be borne.
In concrete terms, this concerns the Tiwag information letters about the enormous price increases for existing contracts. From AK Tirol’s point of view, the complete required transparency is lacking. The lawsuit therefore only concerns the old contracts, but not the new contracts, which are considerably cheaper due to the bonus granted.
Quick response required from Tiwag
“The court addressed the complex issue in detail and provided extensive legal reasons for the inadmissibility of adjusting the labor price – based on various legal violations. We now expect the state energy supplier to respond quickly and accept and comply with the judgment for all affected customers,” Zangerl explains.
Tiwag argued with higher market prices
At the end of 2021, Tiwag board spokesman Erich Entstrasser announced an increase in electricity prices by about eight percent at the end of the second quarter of 2022. Tiwag’s board said at the time that the increased prices on the market would force energy suppliers to take this step.
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.
