Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

That’s quite a coincidence. But if prices increase, the company probably can’t do anything about it. Wait a minute: Could it be due to the [Strompreisbremse]? It works well, so everyone has to pay the same price for their electricity. That can’t be the reason either.

Why not? I actually find it very reasonable for private consumers if everyone pays the same rate.

We are still beneficiaries of our 24-month price guarantee for electricity (valid until August 2023).

We also signed a contract with a price lock until 04/2024 in May this year... It was up to everyone to do it that way...

Why not? I actually find it very sensible for private consumers if everyone pays the same price.

No, I find it very reasonable if I can keep my cheap gas price of 7 cents per kWh and my electricity price of 28 cents, as I personally pay an appropriate amount for the costs incurred by the supplier. If my supplier now raises the prices (which fortunately has not happened yet), then he is simply pocketing the rest as profit because the electricity price is capped at 40 cents and all customers pay this maximum price. Without the cap, the cheapest price on the market would still prevail; right now it is practically an invitation to the suppliers to all charge the same price, and the customer yields the suppliers who previously had cheap prices a nice profit of 10 cents.

If my supplier raises prices now (which fortunately has not happened yet), then they are simply pocketing the rest as profit, because the electricity price is capped at 40 cents and all customers pay this maximum price. Without the cap, the cheapest price on the market would still prevail, but right now it is an invitation to the suppliers to all charge the same price and the customer rewards the suppliers who previously had lower prices with a nice profit of 10 cents.

This explains the massive resistance of the corporations against the windfall tax. If it were to be implemented, the scenario described above would likely remain limited. However, betting on that now would be too risky for me :-D

Exactly. When, how, and whether a windfall tax will be introduced at the EU or national level is still completely uncertain.

That explains the massive resistance of the corporations against the windfall profits tax. If it were to be implemented, the scenario described above would likely be limited. But betting on that now would be too risky for me :-D

When I read something about "fictitious profits" in the newspaper, as a company I would also try to prevent that at all costs. In the worst case, you have the double misfortune of having sold your electricity long-term below the current market price and still facing a windfall profits tax. But even a windfall profits tax on real profits is likely legally highly questionable, so I assume that there will be much discussion and possibly a decision, but in the end, the state will pay all subsidies from new debt. And that subsidies and price caps distort the market is economics 101 and obvious even without an economics degree. Unfortunately, politics across all parties like to ignore that when they can present themselves as major players.