“Numerous companies are having acute problems being offered or being able to conclude new energy contracts for electricity and gas,” said VDMA President Karl Haeusgen. “Some medium-sized machine builders see themselves exposed to incalculable risks outside their core business.”
Unlike in the private customer sector, there is no mandatory basic supply for companies from an energy provider. High levels of uncertainty and extreme price spikes in the electricity market made utilities extremely risk-averse.
Electricity price cap demanded
In addition, the VMDA called for a temporary electricity price cap. This is temporarily a suitable instrument “when a market has been disrupted by speculators and external shocks, which is currently the case”.
It was only on Monday that the electronics industry asked politicians to temporarily reduce VAT on the price of electricity and decouple it from the price of gas. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck wants to curb prices for consumers and industry with a reform of the electricity market. It is planned to decouple the development of end customer prices for electricity from the gas price.
