Many of the company’s austerity measures come as a surprise.
(Photo: IMAGO/Laci Perenyi)
Admittedly, there is not much good to be said for the energy crisis. If you try anyway, it’s the fact that companies are now being doomed to save energy. This also seems to be working across the board: recently, large industrial customers, who account for 60 percent of gas consumption, used 30 percent less energy than the average of the past few years, according to analyzes by the Federal Network Agency.
But in individual cases, corporations still have a lot of potential. And that in the Dax. A survey by the Handelsblatt reveals that the savings quotas at the largest listed companies are seldom as high as at the industrial heavyweights. Many Dax companies are not that energy-intensive because they manage rather than produce. But many have been boasting for years about how much they are doing for the climate.
>> Read the poll results: Fleece jackets in production, cold water in the office – this is how Germany’s companies save gas and electricity
Expectations were high when the Handelsblatt asked the companies how exactly they were saving energy at the moment. After all, the companies could put themselves in a good light. The feedback was often sobering.
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To name just a few examples: Daimler Truck states that it recently replaced conventional light sources with more economical LED lights. I beg your pardon? That’s laudable though. But does an energy crisis have to sweep through the country before the company takes such basic measures? LED lamps have been available at affordable prices for years – and the company has been wasting energy for that long.
Other answers are similarly surprising. RWE is considering activating motion detectors so that common areas are no longer permanently illuminated. You could have expected that from an energy company for a long time. Fresenius has optimized night-time ventilation in the operating theaters – the group assures that the air quality will not deteriorate. Wouldn’t that have happened sooner?
Some companies are still considering austerity measures
After all, some companies have already acted. Others are still considering. In this way, Deutsche Post is “developing” even more precise plans. Ah yes, the energy costs have only been astronomically high for weeks. Deutsche Bank is “examining further steps, such as lowering room temperatures”. Others have long since done so. It’s good that the bank has already shut down the fountain in front of its Frankfurt headquarters. Then at least it looks as if energy is being saved everywhere.
Business is also responsible in the energy crisis. Companies cannot call for gas price controls and other government measures if they themselves do not seem to have recognized the seriousness of the situation. Sure: There are also companies that do everything they can to keep their gas and electricity bills as low as possible – perhaps because they can’t afford it. But the pressure is obviously not that great everywhere.
More: “Tense situation” in the power grid – are we threatened with a blackout in winter?