Haslauer: Electricity price cap “seriously discussed” – salzburg.ORF.at
Rising energy prices are currently the biggest driver of inflation in Austria. That is why the opposition initially called for an electricity price cap. And now the No front to such a measure is crumbling within the ÖVP. The Lower Austrian provincial governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner was the first to call for an electricity price cap. After Upper Austria’s governor Thomas Stelzer, Salzburg’s Wilfried Haslauer can now also take capping measures.
“The aim must be to keep life affordable”
Haslauer is not only the governor of the state, but also the chairman of the supervisory board of the state energy supplier Salzburg AG: “The topic of the electricity price cap has to be discussed very, very seriously. After all, the goal must be to keep life affordable,” says Haslauer in the “Salzburg Today” interview. “I don’t think we will be able to avoid a European solution. Because the entire electricity price determination problem via the electricity exchanges simply needs to be regulated.”
Debate on electricity price caps: Haslauer for it too
Greens want a cap up to a certain consumption
The Green deputy governor Heinrich Schellhorn is also in favor of restricting electricity prices – but a little differently than the ÖVP intended: “I’m not in favor of an electricity price cap, but an electricity price base,” says Schellhorn. “Every household should have a fixed price guarantee for consumption up to – let’s say – 3,000 kilowatt hours, the average consumption of a household. That should be covered there. The market price should determine who consumes electricity beyond that. In this way, we are also promoting energy saving.”
SPÖ also wants to cap fuel prices
The opposition has been calling for an electricity price cap for a long time – but they want more: “The only thing that helps is government intervention to regulate these prices again,” says SPÖ state party leader David Egger. “That means we not only need an electricity price cap, but we will also need a price cap on refueling and on fuel prices.”
The female liberal state party chairman Volker Reifenberger also calls for an electricity price cap, “because something has to be done – something that works quickly. We are aware that this may not be the ideal solution. But I don’t see the alternative at the moment. Doing nothing at all is definitely not a solution.”
NEOS boss against price cap: “No incentive to save”
The NEOS state party leader Andrea Klambauer, on the other hand, does not think much of the electricity price cap in Austria: “In my opinion, the electricity price cap makes no sense because there would be no incentive to save energy.”
Suspend VAT on energy?
An alternative to a legally controversial electricity price cap would be a temporary suspension of VAT on energy. Incidentally, this is where all the parties meet: “You can introduce that for a limited period of time,” says Governor Haslauer. “Of course there is a political concern that you will never find your way back, I am aware of that. But in special times, special measures are also required.”
For SPÖ boss Egger it would “of course also be an option to suspend VAT now – of course not forever, but only for a certain period of time. But with this market failure, as is happening right now, only a price cap would make sense.”
FPÖ: “Russian sanctions should be reconsidered”
The Liberals go much further in their demands: “The sanctions against Russia urgently need to be reconsidered,” says FPÖ man Reifenberger. “The population should be asked here how they feel about these sanctions against Russia. Our opinion is very clear: these sanctions against Russia hurt us in Austria much more than the Russians. Here, when in doubt, the Austrian population is much closer to me than the Ukrainian ones.