It was announced for a long time, but it will come into force from tomorrow, Thursday: the electricity price brake. Specifically, the price is sponsored up to a consumption of 2900 kilowatt hours. Until then, only 10 cents per kilowatt hour have to be paid. From this value, the federal government pays up to 30 cents per kWh, which in turn is reimbursed to the electricity supplier.
Households of three or more people can receive further relief, said Finance Minister Magnus Brunner during a press conference with Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and Michael Strugl, President of Austria’s Energy. Each person receives an additional quota of 350 kWh at a price of 30 cents. This corresponds to an additional relief of “more than 100 euros per person and year”. The reason for this is that the electricity price brake is calculated for an annual average consumption of three people.
After it was initially said that this help had to be applied for yourself, the processing should now “take place largely automatically”, explained Brunner and emphasized: “The model will now be “finalized”. The relief should start in the spring. Whether it will apply retrospectively to December 1st remains open.
Brunner also explained that corporate aid will also be “sharpened”. The energy cost subsidy for energy-intensive companies (February 2022 to September 2022) is to be expanded to a higher volume by the end of 2023 as part of the EU subsidy framework.
A gas price brake is “rather unlikely”. “The best thing would be a common European solution to the high gas prices,” explained Minister Gewessler, emphasizing: “I have always exchanged views on quick solutions at EU level.” Another EU energy ministerial meeting will take place on December 19th.
