EU energy ministers have reached agreement on a package of emergency measures to mitigate high electricity prices in the European Union. The Council agreed to cap market revenues at €180/MWh for electricity producers, including intermediaries, who use so-called infra-marginal technologies to generate electricity, such as renewables, nuclear and lignite. “These operators have made significant and unexpected financial gains over the past few months, without their operational costs increasing. the final price of electricity”, says the Council of the EU. On the other hand, the ministers did not manage to agree on a gas price freeze mechanism, as some fifteen Member States wanted. But it’s “the best way to limit household and business energy bills”according to the Belgian Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen), at the origin of this request.
Vivaldi repeats over and over once more that the solution to lowering citizens’ energy bills can only come from Europe. Only a group decision coming from the majority of the 27 Member States of the European Union might bring down the stock market. “The 450 million European citizens must dare to say that we are not going any further on international markets”, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday. But some countries like Germany and the Netherlands, which are visibly coping well with the current state of the gas market, do not seem to agree.
The Council of the European Union has also decided to move towards a reduction in consumption. It agreed on a voluntary target for an overall reduction of 10% in gross electricity consumption and a mandatory target for a reduction of 5% in peak hour electricity consumption. It will be up to Member States to identify those 10% of their peak hours between 1 December 2022 and 31 March 2023 during which they will reduce demand. Member States will be free to choose the appropriate measures to do so.
