Berlin DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi encounters divided opinions with her proposal to cap the electricity price for industry at four cents per kilowatt hour for a limited period of time. The proposal corresponds “rather to a symbolic outbidding competition instead of a constructive contribution to the debate,” said the economic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Reinhard Houben.
“We will not achieve the competitiveness of industry and the preservation of the many industrial jobs through permanent state subsidies for a few large corporations,” emphasized the member of the Bundestag.
On the other hand, the economic policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Sandra Detzer, welcomed the fact that the DGB supported the proposal for an industrial electricity price in principle. In the coalition, it is now the SPD and FDP’s turn to clarify their position, said Detzer. Regardless of the specific amount, a subsidized electricity price must enable transformation and should not slow it down.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to support domestic industry until sufficient quantities of renewable energies are available and the conversion to climate-neutral production is successful. For a limited period until 2030, the electricity price for 80 percent of consumption is to be capped at six cents per kilowatt hour.
Fahimi doesn’t go far enough. In global and European competition, six cents for industrial electricity is still too much, said the trade unionist in an interview with the Handelsblatt.
Craft rejects special tariff only for industrial companies
The President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Peter Adrian, welcomes the debate on the topic. “But the current proposals fall short.” Like FDP politician Houben, Adrian is of the opinion that a real reduction in electricity prices is necessary, which will help companies on a broad scale.
Adrian criticizes that the Economics Minister’s proposal would only help a very small number of companies – and only if the electricity discount were not linked to numerous conditions and restrictions at the same time. Habeck and Fahimi want to link the funding to criteria such as a transformation obligation, adherence to collective agreements or location guarantees.
Jörg Dittrich, president of the skilled crafts trades, also warns against one-sided preferential treatment for large, energy-intensive companies: “A special tariff that only privileges industrial companies leads to distortions of competition and endangers jobs and training positions in the skilled trades, the preservation of which should be at least as important to the unions.”
However, Fahimi had emphasized that the promotion of the industry should not be at the expense of other electricity consumers. From their point of view, the federal government should therefore give a signal to extend the energy price brake of the past year, if necessary, so that the bakery around the corner is also protected from being overburdened financially.
For a limited period until 2030, the electricity price for 80 percent of consumption is to be capped at six cents per kilowatt hour.
(Photo: dpa)
DIHK President Adrian has another way in mind: “We can only solve the crisis if we courageously expand the offer and at the same time reduce state burdens,” says the entrepreneur. The goal must be a competitive electricity price based on countries like France, where the industrial electricity price is capped at around four cents.
>> Read the interview with DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi here: “Mr. Lindner has to answer the question of whether this country should still have a stable industrial base”
If a German medium-sized company paid twice as much for electricity as its French competitor before the energy crisis, it is now four times as much, according to the four-page draft of a DIHK concept for an “electricity partnership”.
Alternative suggestion
The Chamber fears “injustice and imbalance, misguided incentives and mismanagement” if funding is only concentrated on a few large industrial consumers. Instead, she proposes that the state should assume all taxes, surcharges and fees for electricity as far as possible. This alone would save companies and private households around ten billion euros a year.
Read more about energy-intensive industry
And the DIHK wants to use investment grants to promote long-term electricity supply contracts between producers of renewable energy and electricity consumers from the economy. This brings planning and investment security for both sides.
Economics Minister Habeck’s concept also provides for such power purchase agreements (PPA) secured by state guarantees – albeit for a longer period of time. In the short term, the minister considers a capped “bridging electricity price” to be necessary.
However, the boss of the economic experts, Monika Schnitzer, had warned that with a subsidized industrial electricity price, tax money would be diverted from less energy-intensive to energy-intensive sectors, which would slow down structural change. The economic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Bernd Westphal, does not share this fear.
>> Read here: economy speak out against industrial electricity prices
The government is not pursuing the goal of cementing fixed structures or delaying the transformation. “Exactly the opposite is the case,” said Westphal. The temporary electricity price brake is the “game changer to accelerate the transformation”. Because the electrification of industrial processes will only be profitable with cheap electricity.
More: Debate on the threat of industrial brain drain – “You should be very concerned”