In the course of the energy crisis, electricity prices are now also exploding – and according to the expert Manuel Frondel, further price records can be expected under certain circumstances. However, he does not believe in a cap on energy prices. A lump sum is socially fairer.
The energy expert Manuel Frondel has warned of possible “unexpected price peaks” in view of rising electricity prices. “It is to be expected that electricity prices will continue to rise in autumn and winter because the demand for electricity increases during this time – especially in countries like France, where electricity is used for heating,” said the energy expert from the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”.
“If the supply then remains tight, for example if half of the French nuclear power plants continue to fail, or if the supply is even tighter, as with the shutdown of the three remaining German nuclear power plants, the electricity price can reach further unforeseen price peaks.”
At the same time, Frondel warned of price caps. “Interventions in the pricing mechanism of the market” would be “the completely wrong way to react to this,” said the energy expert. “Social hardship should be cushioned as specifically as possible in low-income households. Frondel is thus contradicting the proposal by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) for an energy price cap.
DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi also brought up an energy price flat rate, as will now be granted in September 2022, this time in the amount of 500 euros. According to Frondel, this is a conceivable way because “low-income households are more favored than wealthy households, since the wealthy have to pay more tax on this flat rate.”
Before the start of the closed meeting of his cabinet in Meseberg, Chancellor Olaf Scholz highlighted progress in securing the energy supply and assured citizens and companies that there would soon be new relief. The government will carefully discuss a relief package that is “as tailor-made as possible, as efficient as possible, as targeted as possible” this week, said Scholz. Citizens must be put in a position to deal with the increased prices.
