Interfering with the profits of corporations is difficult: in the past, random profits were removed only if they were 20 percent above the average profit of previous years, in future they should be set at 10 percent. More details will be announced in the coming days.
Chancellor Karl Nehmer (OVP) insists: “I said, ‘We will not let ourselves go on paper’ and I stand by my word. Profiteering from energy companies is unacceptable while customers are being bombarded with terrible bills Both private households and companies have suffered massive losses from this development. “That’s why we are asking the energy companies to pay one more time. Because it should not happen that profits are privatized and losses are nationalized.
Vice-Chancellor Werner Kögler (Greens) also criticizes that “the bells of some energy companies are ringing while many families do not know how to pay their energy bills”. The windfall is mainly due to Putin’s war of aggression. “Every child understands that this advantage of war is unfair and that makes many people angry.”
Just before the summer, the federal government increased the energy crisis contribution of power companies and tightened the benefits scheme for power companies. For the government, energy costs are at the root of the problem.
Kogler: “In the fall of 2022, we reduced windfall profits, tightened it for electricity suppliers in May and are now dealing with fossil energy suppliers. They should contribute even more to the energy crisis. Because This is reasonable. In doing so, we go further than what the EU requires in its emergency regulation in terms of tax rate and duration of validity. At the same time, there is still an incentive to invest in renewable energy. exist. It solidifies our independence from fossil fuels.”
