After the governor of Lower Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) called for a price cap for electricity, both supportive and negative voices can now be heard. For example, the opposition party is happy that Mikl-Leitner is switching to the SPÖ course. The NEOS, in turn, were critical. Politicians cannot just cap prices without causing problems.
Both the SPÖ and the FPÖ claim the demand for an electricity price cap for themselves. The FPÖ has been demanding this for fuel, energy and food for weeks, Lower Austrian club president Udo Landbauer said. However, the ÖVP rejected the corresponding motions against the inflation wave in the state parliament. The federal director of the SPÖ, Christian Deutsch, on the other hand, believes that it is a request from his party leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner and the leader of the state party SPÖ of Lower Austria Franz Schnabl. In this regard, he described the current policies of Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) as “timid and despondent”.
“Understandable need given high energy prices”
One proponent of calls for a price cap for electricity is Treasury Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP). He said in a broadcast on Sunday that the discussion about how it should work should be conducted at European level. “About the merit order system and possible effects on it, eg B. also market interventions on the European gas and energy markets. As a federal government, we have decided to provide direct aid at the national level to those who are severely affected by prices and we have also launched an electricity price compensation and direct subsidy for energy-intensive companies for companies that are particularly affected. are (…)”. The demand for price ceilings is understandable given the high energy prices. The crisis cabinet of the federal government regularly discusses the current price situation and examines all possible actions together with economic researchers.
At the same time, Brunner pointed out that experts would predict that the economic downsides of a national price cap would outweigh the negatives. It is important to ensure that political measures against inflation do more harm than good. The Lower Austrian NEOS also referred to this point in their criticism. The idea that politicians can simply cap prices without causing problems is naive. Instead, the Pinks spoke out in favor of investing “excess profits from energy companies” in expanding renewables and in compensating people who are particularly affected.
Source: Krone
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