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Converted to one square meter of living space, the price increase for district heating as of March 1st means an increase in gross prices of one euro per year, says Josef Siligan, who is responsible for the energy department on the Linz AG board. The price per megawatt hour will rise from 96.18 euros to 103.88 euros gross.
As reported, Linz AG has submitted an application to the state price commission to increase the price of district heating by eight percent. Because the most recent improvement was only made in August 2023, this application during the year was a first. Energie AG also submitted a similar application shortly afterwards – also by eight percent.
- Read here: Linz AG wants to make district heating more expensive
- Read here: Price request: Energie AG wants to make district heating more expensive
In the case of Linz AG, State Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens) announced on Friday that the applicant’s arguments were plausible and the application would be approved. This is not a preliminary decision for Energie AG, which wants to increase on April 1st. Each application is examined individually. However, both energy suppliers have argued that prices for pipes and civil engineering have increased.
District heating providers should be allowed to make a small profit with their economically justified prices in order to be able to push the expansion forward, says Kaineder. The municipal Linz AG is also striving for this. The 88,000 households served would be joined by 2,000 every year. By 2035, 3,000 apartment buildings and 6,000 single and two-family houses should be connected to district heating, said Siligan.
Extension of the price regulation?
Only part of the supply areas of Linz AG, Energie AG and E-Werk Wels are subject to this price regulation. Other district heating providers are allowed to and have increased their prices in accordance with the price index – here the price increases were more than 40 percent in the previous year.
Kaineder is therefore in favor of expanding the responsibility of the prize commission. Economics Minister Martin Kocher (VP) could decide this by ordinance. Kaineder reports discussions at official level that would examine this. When asked, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is not aware of this request.
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