The parliamentary group leader of the free voters, Florian Streibl, says that the privatization of the power plants was a “terrific mistake”.
The FW are also in favor of bringing at least parts of the large hydroelectric power plants in Bavaria, which were privatized in the 1990s, back into public hands. The state’s entry into the energy supplier Uniper, which was badly hit as a result of the Ukraine war and the gas crisis, “now opens up the possibility of partially reversing the privatization of electricity generators that was carried out in the past,” says the FW parliamentary group leader in the state parliament , Florian Streibl.
The state should buy back at least part of the plants sold at that time from Uniper and then lease them out. From Striebl’s point of view, power plants are part of the public service and therefore belong in principle to the state. He describes the privatization of Bayernwerk from 1994 under the then Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber as a “terrific mistake”.
Last week, the leader of the Greens parliamentary group in the state parliament, Ludwig Hartmann, called on the Free State to bring as many Uniper power plants back into public ownership as possible. Hartmann had the hundred large hydroelectric power plants on the Danube, Lech, Isar and Main in mind. For many, the license will expire in the coming years. From the point of view of the Green politician, this offers a unique opportunity for the Free State to get back into the energy supply, for example by replacing the power plants from the energy supplier and then handing them over to associations of municipal utilities for operation.
Streibl expressly agrees with Hartmann. “If the energy supply is in private hands, as it is here, the state can only make recommendations or express wishes. Otherwise, it has to wait and see what the supplier does,” says Streibl. “But if the state has a hand on the energy supply, it can actively control it.” This is not only important in crises like the current one. But at all times and regardless of whether it is hydroelectric power plants, wind turbines or other forms of energy. “A state-owned energy company is a central control instrument of economic policy,” he says. “With the construction and operation of a power plant, for example, the state can create a strong incentive for companies willing to settle there.”