What happens next with relief measures for energy prices? Consumer advocates and the energy industry are currently experiencing great uncertainty.
Consumer advocates and the energy industry have called on politicians to clarify the expiry of energy price relief. The prevailing lack of clarity has the potential to once again cause great uncertainty among customers and energy suppliers, according to a letter from Kerstin Andreae, managing director of the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry, and Ramona Pop, board member of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations. It is not clear whether the reduction in VAT on gas and district heating as well as the expiration of the energy price brakes can be implemented at the end of December.
The letter, which is available to the German Press Agency, was sent to the parliamentary group leaders in the Bundestag and the members of the responsible Bundestag committees.
The energy price brakes expire on December 31, 2023, but an extension until a maximum of April 30, 2024 is stipulated in the law. Various representatives of the federal government, such as Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), have campaigned for this. According to government plans, the reduction in VAT on gas will expire three months earlier than planned at the turn of the year. However, this is controversial within the coalition.
demands of the associations
The associations’ letter states: “The most important common interest of politics, the energy industry and consumers should be not to cause the difficult and hectic situation at the turn of the year 2022/2023 to happen again when energy price brakes are introduced.” A quick clarification is necessary. The projects now being discussed would have a significant impact on energy industry processes and, as with the introduction of price caps, could only be implemented with appropriate advance notice.
The associations are calling for support for both the notification of an extension of the price caps to the EU in Brussels and the budgetary deposit of maintaining the VAT reduction for gas and district heating so that the crisis measures expire synchronously on March 31, 2024.
“Many consumers are currently still paying higher energy prices than in 2021 before the energy price crisis,” the letter says. “In addition, it cannot be ruled out that energy prices, especially gas prices, will increase significantly this winter due to unforeseeable international conditions. An early increase in VAT and an expiry of the energy price brakes at the turn of the year would then come at an inopportune time. Many consumers could do so again get into payment difficulties and would probably have little understanding for these measures.”
Source: Stern
