Under increasing pressure from the state governors of the ÖVP, relief for electricity customers is apparently getting closer. Chancellor Karl Nehammer has commissioned Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (both ÖVP) to investigate a ceiling on electricity bills. The suggestion came from the head of the Economic Research Institute (WIFO), Gabriel Felbermayr. Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) also welcomed the proposal.
The quarrel about unburdening household electricity customers came to a head last week. After the Chancellor rejected the SPÖ’s demand for a maximum price for electricity in the National Council, Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) called for a “clear decision” by the federal government on a price cap.
“Won’t give dogmas”
On Saturday, Styrian Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) again demanded a course correction. Like the Viennese SPÖ mayor Michael Ludwig, he campaigned in an interview for a dialogue between the federal government and the federal states and the energy sector. In crisis situations there should be “no dogmas”.
Now the Chancellor is apparently giving in. Nehammer judged Felbermayr’s idea as “interesting”, the Federal Chancellery informed the “Wiener Zeitung” and the “Kleine Zeitung”. “I have always said that there is no prohibition to think when it comes to freeing people from high energy prices,” the head of government paved the way for a compromise. Treasury Secretary Brunner must first “check carefully” and make calculations with the WIFO boss about the effectiveness of his proposal and the costs of the plan. The result is discussed in the crisis cabinet.
Help must reach households
Felbermayr had advocated helping households with their electricity bills given the skyrocketing prices. In part, there must be more favorable conditions, for the rest you have to pay the higher market price. Gewessler rated the proposal as “very good” in the “Krone” interview. This is how the help ends up with households, according to the Minister of Energy.
ÖGB chairman Wolfgang Katzian also proposes a capped price for basic gas and electricity needs and standard market prices for everything above that. Katzian has already put concrete figures on the table. For a basic need for electricity, which a household can use for cooking or doing laundry, for example, there should be a ceiling of 20 cents per kilowatt hour. “This is just above the pre-war level, but still well below what can be expected in the fall,” said the chairman of the ÖGB.
ÖGB: 600 euros per year for electricity
Katzian also cites examples: According to his model, the gross electricity costs for a two-person household that consumes an estimated 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, including the subscription fee, would be 600 euros per year. The upper limit for gas should be eight cents per kilowatt hour. With a need of about 9800 kilowatt hours of gas for an apartment of 70 square meters, the bill here amounts to a maximum of 784 euros gross.
The ÖGB estimates the costs – assuming that the energy bill doubles – for gas at about three quarters of a billion euros and for electricity at about two billion euros per year. As a form of financing or compensation that the state could transfer to companies, the chairman of the ÖGB is proposing a tax on the crisis-induced surplus profits of energy companies.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
