The Federal Cartel Office is investigating several gas suppliers. They are suspected of having set unjustifiably high end customer prices in order to benefit from the energy price brakes.
The Federal Cartel Office in Bonn has initiated several abuse proceedings against energy suppliers. Investigations have been launched against a double-digit number of gas suppliers who may have over-reimbursed governments because of energy price controls. Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt announced today: “We have indications that the underlying prices could not be objectively justified to end customers.”
The energy price brakes for gas and district heating as well as for electricity have been in effect since March, retrospectively also for January and February. The price capped at 12 cents for natural gas applies to 80 percent of the forecast annual consumption.
In order to promote energy saving, the contracted price must be paid for the remainder. The cap is 40 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour for district heating. The difference between the cap and the contract price is reimbursed by the state – and thus the taxpayer – to the utility companies.
Funds must be repaid
Even before the energy price brakes were introduced, there were fears that companies could take advantage of this and charge prices above the market price. The Cartel Office had therefore set up a new department. In suspicious cases, it checks whether prices have been increased unjustifiably. The procedures initiated were preceded by an analysis of all application and reporting data, with pricing, delivery quantities, relief amounts and customer numbers being examined.
Mundt also announced that proceedings would also be initiated against suppliers of district heating and electricity. He emphasized: “Although there is no general suspicion, in future we will subject all application data on compensation payments from the applicant companies to a regular systematic examination.” Violations can be punished with fines; Compensation payments obtained unlawfully must be reimbursed by companies.