This prediction of the Austrian E-Control can Peter Hochgatterer, Managing Director of Steyrer Stadtbetriebe, only agree. forced. “We can’t determine anything ourselves, we’re swimming along like a small nutshell in the sea,” Hochgatterer put it drastically.
Any solidarity action with Ukraine, no matter how well intentioned, or early conversion away from fossil fuels would not affect the swing of the pendulum. The dependence on the large energy networks is too great.
The only decisive factor will be what quantities the city companies, which supply 6,500 households, could obtain from their wholesalers. The management of the city companies does not have to worry about the gas supply for industry, they obtain their gas directly from large energy companies.
With regard to the prices for Steyr customers, Hochgatterer can say little about future developments, other than the commonplace that gas will become even more expensive for consumers. The city companies will have to swim with the general level without their own creative freedom. Which doesn’t mean higher profits that it can deliver to the city for its budget. “2021 was already a problematic year in this regard,” Hochgatterer prepares politicians for lower dividends. Not to mention that this year will be even more difficult. One ray of hope is that the conversion from fossil to renewable energy in the city is progressing: the town hall is also being converted from oil heating to district heating.
Source: Nachrichten
