The gas surcharge will come – that is certain after the latest statements by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) on this topic on Wednesday. Despite the nationalization of the Düsseldorf energy group Uniper, the minister is sticking to the controversial consumer levy. Habeck said at a press conference in Berlin that the question of the constitutionality of the gas levy because of the nationalization would be examined independently of the introduction. “So the gas surcharge will come.”
His ministry had previously announced that the Uniper group, which was badly hit by a lack of Russian gas supplies, would be nationalized. The federal government is taking over “a total of 99 percent of Uniper” as part of another stabilization package.
The gas levy will be charged from October. This should allow gas importers who have to buy expensive elsewhere because of the failure of Russian deliveries to pass on these additional costs: to the suppliers and ultimately to households and companies. Habeck said that whether this is legal when one of the largest profiting companies is in state hands is now being checked by the Ministry of Finance.
However, the processing of the Uniper takeover will take around three months, he explained. When the levy was introduced in October, there were no constitutional concerns because “the company has not yet been nationalized”. Adjustments may have to be made later.
The surcharge for all gas users is currently set at around 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour. According to the current status, the first advance payments should go to companies in November at the earliest. Habeck tries to limit the circle of eligible companies so that only companies in need benefit.
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