Electricity prices
Competition watchdogs are concerned about RWE’s market power
RWE is a big player on the electricity market. So big that Germany’s top competition watchdogs are watching the company’s role like a hawk.
The Federal Cartel Office has concerns about the role of the energy supplier RWE in the German electricity market. “The structural market power in the area of electricity generation continues,” said head of the authority Andreas Mundt at the presentation of the so-called market power report 2023/24 in Bonn.
The group’s market power has been weakened somewhat, particularly due to the weak economy and the resulting fall in demand for electricity. “The extent of indispensability – i.e. the periods in which RWE could specifically increase the market price – was still in the order of magnitude of the presumption threshold for a dominant market position.” It is not clear whether RWE is dominant: this would have to be investigated as part of a separate procedure.
The “extent of indispensability” of the electricity provider and the fact that RWE can predict its indispensability at certain times worries the competition watchdogs. This indicates “that RWE must observe the antitrust law prohibition of abuse,” says Mundt.
The federal authority sees signs that RWE’s market power could become even greater in the future. In the case of a company with market power, there is a risk for the consumer that the company could deliberately increase prices.
dpa
Source: Stern
