The state energy price brakes will be ended three months earlier than planned. “The economic and stabilization fund will be closed on December 31st of this year,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on Deutschlandfunk. “There will be no more payments from this. The electricity and gas price brakes will also be ended at the end of the year.”
The background is the budget ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on November 15th. The court had declared the transfer of Corona billions to the climate and transformation fund inadmissible. The Economic and Stabilization Fund (WSF) was financially funded in a similar way and was therefore under scrutiny. The energy price brakes for consumers and companies were paid for from the WSF.
One day after the verdict, the Bundestag actually decided to extend the brake regulation until March 31st. The brakes on electricity and gas were introduced in March of this year and were retroactively granted for January and February. This should relieve consumers of the high energy prices. The prices were capped for a large part of the consumption of private households – for electricity at 40 cents and for gas at twelve cents per kilowatt hour. Meanwhile, prices on the market are generally lower.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had already warned of rising energy prices on Monday. He also announced on Deutschlandfunk: “If we get into a crisis, we will no longer be able to apply the brakes on gas and electricity prices. Then we will have higher gas and electricity prices and district heating prices.”
In the radio interview, Finance Minister Lindner left it open whether the reduction in network fees will also be eliminated for 2024.