“We must prevent the electricity customers from being cheated in the end”

Dusseldorf Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) promises electricity and gas consumers help in the fight against rising energy costs. “The collapse of some discounters in the electricity and gas market and the associated transfer of many customers to the basic supply are an enormous social hardship,” said Habeck in a pre-recorded interview at the Handelsblatt Energy Summit on Tuesday.

According to Habeck, the speculation of the low-cost providers on “ever-low prices” on the electricity exchange is “not a resilient business model”. The system must at least become more transparent.

“The fact that people in good faith that they have received a cheap offer now find themselves in the more expensive basic service tariff cannot simply remain without consequences,” said the minister.

You have to look at how the very heavily liberalized electricity and gas market will be set up in the future. “We have to prevent people who want to save 50 or 100 euros from being cheated in the end,” stressed Habeck.