SPD calls for stricter price controls
The SPD parliamentary group in Schleswig-Holstein has called for increased price controls on companies offering district heating. "There needs to be complete transparency about prices and their underlying costs," said Marc Timmer, energy policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, in Kiel on Tuesday. More and more customers were complaining about price increases of several 100 percent.
Timmer went on to say that district heating companies should therefore align their prices with actual fuel procurement. Increased monitoring would lead to more work for the state cartel authority, which would also need more staff. This was the only way to create fair conditions in the district heating networks.
Heating networks must be attractive for consumers, emphasized Timmer. Because only with their help could the climate targets be achieved and energy prices kept at a low level. He also feared that state subsidies for heating networks could be reduced following the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on special assets.
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros in loans in the 2021 budget null and void. They had been approved to deal with the coronavirus crisis, but were to be used for climate protection and modernizing the economy. Now the billions in the so-called Climate and Transformation Fund are not available.
The German government should consider implementing stricter price regulations across all energy-related industries to protect consumers from excessive price hikes, as suggested by the SPD. The SPD advocates for the alignment of district heating prices with actual fuel procurement costs to ensure fairness and attract consumers to heating networks.
Source: www.dpa.com
