In the energy crisis, the state shifts problems from A to B

VNG gas storage facility

In the face of drastic developments, promising company names and proud tweets cannot replace the need to make prudent decisions – and to consider all the consequences.

(Photo: dpa)

Dusseldorf In view of the recent events, the name sounds like mockery: SEFE, the abbreviation for “Securing Energy for Europe”. SEFE is the new name for the company that was called Gazprom Germania until a few weeks ago – a subsidiary of the Russian gas group Gazprom. In the meantime, the German state has taken over the trusteeship and given it its new name. The message: “We are saving the European gas supply.” At the moment, the opposite is the case.

SEFE is letting its probably most important gas customer down: On Friday morning, the energy supplier VNG announced that it was in trouble because it was no longer receiving gas from SEFE. This jeopardizes the gas supply of 400 municipal utilities and industrial companies in Germany, which usually purchase gas from VNG. The consequence: VNG applied for state aid. What irony. If the state had ensured that “Securing Energy for Europe” continued to supply VNG with gas, it would not have to save the company now.

Why the federal government is acting like this remains its secret for the time being. The bottom line is that it may not matter whether SEFE gas has to buy expensive gas on the market or whether VNG has to. In the end, both state and citizens will cost a lot of money. But the case reinforces the impression that the state is often just shifting problems from A to B in this energy crisis.

Another example is the federal gas purchases worth billions. The state has made 15 billion euros available to Trading Hub Europe (THE) to fill German storage facilities as quickly as possible. That works: Germany has already achieved its storage targets for October, as the head of the Federal Network Agency recently tweeted. But at what price?

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A customer who goes on a shopping spree with 15 billion euros and buys at any price drives up energy prices and makes gas unaffordable for companies and public utilities. The side effect is that more and more companies are shutting down production due to a lack of gas. This ensures “gas savings” – but also for unemployment, production losses and rising inflation.

Dealing with the highly complex energy crisis is difficult. But in the face of drastic developments, promising company names and proud tweets cannot replace the need to make prudent decisions – and to consider all the consequences.

More: Wave of terminations at E-Optimum: Utility plans to exit the gas business.

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