The state has already intervened massively in the banking crisis, says Lower Saxony’s head of government. He is now calling for similar action for the entire energy industry.
According to Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil, the federal government should set up a rescue package for the energy industry because of the gas crisis. “I am very sure that we need a state protective shield not only for municipal utilities, but for the energy industry as a whole,” said the SPD politician of the Funke media group.
Municipal utilities were seriously concerned about getting into difficult waterways. “They need security and guarantees from their banks to buy very expensive energy. The banks, in turn, ask where they can get the security from.”
Because referred to the experiences from the financial crisis. “During the banking crisis, we did well to have a state that intervened massively.” The same experience was made during the pandemic.
Gas importers in trouble
Because Russia only delivers a fraction of the contractually agreed gas volumes to Germany, importers are in trouble. And the situation is unlikely to get any better: Gazprom will interrupt gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline for three days at the end of August. The Russian state-owned company announced this on Friday evening. From August 31 to September 2, no gas will flow to Germany due to maintenance work. According to the official reasoning, the only currently functioning turbine at the Portovaya compressor station had to be checked and overhauled in the three days.
The federal government has already saved the energy company Uniper with billions in aid. In addition, importers should benefit from a gas levy so that they can buy comparatively expensive gas on the market to replace missing Russian deliveries. The surcharge is levied on all gas customers.
The Left Party calls for more transparency in this context. “If the gas surcharge could be levied unchecked by any supplier, even if there was no economic need, that would be in no way acceptable,” said Dietmar Bartsch, leader of the Bundestag faction, of the Funke media group.
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, a total of eleven gas importers will benefit from the surcharge. It is known that Uniper and the EnBW subsidiary VNG are among them. A list has not yet been published.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
