Energy prices - Abuse of price brakes? Cartel watchdogs investigate
Have individual energy suppliers applied for too much relief from the state in the price brakes? The Federal Cartel Office had already initiated several proceedings in the first half of the year as part of its abuse supervision. Today, the authority announced that there are now 57 investigations. Gas accounted for 23 proceedings, district heating and electricity 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 in the period under review, this is a good 15 percent of the total relief applied for for gas and heat and around 20 percent for electricity.
The price brakes for electricity, gas and district heating will remain in place 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 are being scrutinized by the Cartel Office may have overstated their costs and therefore demanded too much money from the state coffers.
Authority issues warnings
"We are singling out conspicuous cases from the large number of applications from suppliers," explained Andreas Mundt, President of the Cartel Office. The most important criteria are outliers in the working price or a combination of a high working price and a large volume of relief requested. "The companies have to explain their pricing to us. If this does not match, we first issue a warning". According to a spokesperson, 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 will only make a final assessment of the cases after the final invoices have been issued from next year. "If, even after the final investigations, there is an abuse of the relief rules, we will sanction this and, if necessary, order refunds to the state."
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- The alleged misuse of the price brakes by energy companies could potentially lead to significant refunds to the German state's coffers, amounting to around 20% of the relief applied for in the electricity sector.
- According to Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office, the authority is focusing on conspicuous cases with outliers in working prices or high working prices coupled with large relief requests from energy suppliers.
- The Federal Cartel Office has initiated 57 investigations into potential abuse of price brakes in the first half of the year, with gas accounting for 23, district heating and electricity each accounting for 17 investigations.
- The energy price brakes aim to cap costs for consumers for a substantial portion of their energy expenses, with energy companies entitled to relief payments in return.
- Andreas Mundt explained that if the companies' pricing does not align with the Cartel Office's scrutiny, a warning will be issued first, followed by an opportunity for the companies to reconsider and adjust their behavior if necessary.
- A spokesperson for the Federal Cartel Office confirmed that warnings have already been issued in several cases, emphasizing that the authority reserves the right to sanction any confirmed abuse and demand refunds to the state if necessary.
- German consumers rely heavily on the energy price brakes to manage their energy expenses, making it crucial for the Federal Cartel Office to ensure that the relief payments are distributed fairly and honestly by energy companies.
Source: www.stern.de
