After natural gas and district heating providers, the Federal Cartel Office is now also examining electricity suppliers and investigating whether they wanted too much money from the state. The Bonn authority announced that test procedures had been initiated that affected a double-digit number of companies.
It’s about sales companies of large energy companies, municipal utilities, regional suppliers, discounters and green energy providers. They were classified as conspicuous in an analysis of application and reporting data. The companies are now being asked about the development of prices and costs.
The companies that are being scrutinized represent about a fifth of the total relief amounts requested by the suppliers for the supply of private households and small businesses, said Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office. In addition, there are audits of suppliers who have supplied large customers.
Energy price brake as relief
After the start of the Ukraine war last year, Germany’s energy industry came under pressure. The prices rose significantly. The federal government introduced an energy price brake with tax money to limit the costs for consumers: the prices were capped, and energy companies were entitled to relief payments. The companies that the cartel office is examining could have set too high costs and thus demanded too much money from the state coffers.
If the authority finds violations, the companies have to pay back the money. Fines are also possible. The Cartel Office had already initiated similar proceedings in the gas industry and among district heating providers in May.
Industry association: “good and right”
The industry association BDEW described it as “good and right” that the implementation of the price brakes would be checked. However, price increases alone are not an indication of abuse. Last year, electricity prices were at a historic high, said BDEW boss Kerstin Andreae. Due to the long-term procurement costs of many suppliers, these had a sometimes delayed impact on end customer prices. “Energy suppliers must be able to pass these sharply increased procurement costs on to their customers,” said Andreae. Otherwise, the companies’ liquidity would be at risk.
The head of the association pointed out that the energy suppliers had put a great deal of effort into implementing the state price brake for millions of customers in a very short time. The companies were assigned the processing because the state had no legally secure and practicable basis for payments. “The companies in the energy industry have taken on this immensely complex implementation in the sense of a social contribution in a phase of highest energy prices and social uncertainty.”
