The drastic rise in electricity prices was the subject of the most recent Rieder municipal council meeting in the Sparkassen-Stadtsaal. For the year 2022, the politicians responsible for the municipality are expected to increase the electricity price by around 260,000 euros.
In order to create financial relief for the city and to reduce electricity costs, it was decided to purchase photovoltaic systems, which will be installed on various buildings in the municipality. Cost point: around one million euros. The plants are financed and built by the city-owned company Energie Ried. A so-called electricity supply agreement has been concluded for the following systems. Middle school 1, leisure pool, folklore center, polytechnic school, swimming pool, boarding school and the town hall. The project will be implemented in the coming year.
“This will enable us to reduce electricity costs in the long term,” said ÖVP city councilor Elisabeth Poringer.
Mayor Bernhard Zwielehner (ÖVP) emphasized the extraordinarily good cooperation with the other parliamentary groups at the municipal council meeting. It is not a matter of course that a solution could be found so quickly and unanimously in such a large project. The city chief sees this as the “starting shot for an autonomous power supply” in Ried. They want to get away from fossil fuels in the medium term.
The financing plan for the renovation of elementary school 1 and middle school 2 (promenade) was also decided. The total costs therefore amount to around EUR 8.6 million. “Unfortunately, the sword of Damocles hovers over us because of the high construction prices. I hope that the offers that arrive do not go beyond our budget. We are now starting the tendering process,” says Zwielehner. If there is a massive increase in construction costs, the renovation will not be able to “bend and break”, said Zwielehner.
Source: Nachrichten
