The price brakes are intended to curb the sharp rise in energy prices. Energy companies can recover lost revenue from the state. In some cases the prices were noticeably high.
Have individual energy suppliers applied for too much relief from the state when it comes to price caps? In the first half of the year, the Federal Cartel Office had already initiated several proceedings as part of its abuse supervision. Today the authority announced that there are now 57 test procedures. Gas accounted for 23 procedures, and district heating and electricity accounted for 17 each. The authority did not disclose which companies were involved.
The total volume of these proceedings is around two billion euros. Measured against the relief amounts applied for during the test period, this amounts to a good 15 percent for gas and heat and around 20 percent for electricity of the total relief applied for.
The price brakes for electricity, gas and district heating apply until the end of the year. They cap the costs for consumers for a large part of their energy costs. In return, the energy companies are entitled to relief payments. The companies whose invoices the cartel office is scrutinizing could have set costs that were too high and therefore demanded too much money from the state treasury.
Authorities issue warnings
“We pick out conspicuous facts from the large number of applications from suppliers,” explained Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt. The most important criteria are outliers in the labor price or a combination of a high labor price and a large requested relief volume. “The companies have to explain their pricing to us. If it doesn’t match, we first issue a warning.” According to a spokesman, this has already happened in several cases.
“The suppliers then have the opportunity to recalculate and adjust their behavior if necessary,” said Mundt. The authority only wants to make a final assessment of the cases after the final accounts have been submitted next year. “If, even after the final investigation, there is an abuse of the discharge rules, we will sanction this and, if necessary, order reimbursements to the state.”
Source: Stern
