FAQ
Status: 09/29/2022 5:08 p.m
Gas and electricity price brakes are coming, but not the gas surcharge. Despite the commitment of up to 200 billion euros, the government wants to comply with the debt brake again in 2023. What did the coalition decide in detail?
There will be no gas surcharge, but there will be a gas price brake: the federal government wants to protect citizens and companies from unbearable costs in the energy crisis with a “defense shield” of up to 200 billion euros. Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a “double boom” in a situation in which Russia was using “its energy supplies as a weapon”. What measures have the ruling parties of the traffic light coalition agreed on in detail? An overview.
gas surcharge
The originally agreed gas surcharge, the revenue of which was intended to support gas importers, will be dropped. “It is no longer needed,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Because the energy companies that have gotten into trouble, such as Uniper, are now to be stabilized with direct state aid instead – with “tailor-made solutions”. The gas surcharge, which was actually supposed to be levied from October 1st, is now being withdrawn by decree. If consumers have already paid for them, they must be repaid, the federal government emphasized.
Sales tax reduction
Even if the gas surcharge is abolished, the sales tax on gas is to be reduced from the current 19 to seven percent by spring 2024 – according to the new decision, this now also applies to district heating.
gas price brake
Instead of the gas levy, the coalition agreed to introduce a gas price brake “as soon as possible” – initially for a limited period. What exactly it should look like is still unclear. A commission of experts is to make a proposal for concrete implementation in mid-October. According to the federal government, the aim is to noticeably relieve households and companies. Apparently, the costs for a basic quota are to be capped. The decision paper of the coalition states: “Therefore, the prices (at least for part of the consumption) are brought to a level that protects private households and companies from being overburdened.”
Electricity price brake
As a further measure, the federal government wants to introduce an electricity price brake for consumers and all companies. For this purpose, the random profits of those power plants for electricity generation are to be skimmed off that are operated without gas and are currently bringing in high additional profits due to the high electricity price. With the help of these revenues, the government intends to subsidize the electricity consumption of consumers and small and medium-sized businesses to a certain extent. We are talking here about a basic consumption – without exact quotas being mentioned. This basic consumption should be subsidized – the higher market prices should then apply to the excess electricity consumption. For larger companies, “specific basic consumption should be made cheaper,” according to the federal government’s paper.
alternative energy sources
Part of the package is also increasing the supply of energy, thereby reducing dependence on Russian energy supplies. Among other things, the federal government wants to exploit the possibilities of renewable energies and coal-fired power generation and push ahead with the development of the infrastructure for the import of liquefied natural gas via the planned LNG terminals. In its paper, however, the coalition also expressly points out that it is creating the possibility of continuing to run the two southern German nuclear reactors Neckwarwestheim and Isar 2 until spring 2023.
financing
As announced by Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Federal Chancellor Scholz, the planned measures are to be financed by the so-called Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), which was set up in 2020 to deal with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic, but has recently not been actively used. The WSF is to be provided with an additional 200 billion euros for crisis intervention in the years 2022 to 2024. The use of the money should be limited to specific tasks. This includes financing the gas and electricity price brakes, aid for companies that have gotten into difficulties as a result of the Russian war of aggression and “gas importers relevant to market stability”. By financing the “economic defense shield” via the Economic Stabilization Fund, which is to receive the necessary credit authorizations this year, the federal government wants to comply with the debt brake of the Basic Law again in the coming year.