The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented this Wednesday a package of measures to deal with the energy crisis. Among the five measures, the proposal to limit the “massive” profits of energy producing companies and also the intention to advance with mandatory objectives in order to cut electricity consumption stand out.
“Whatever we do, one thing is certain: we have to save electricity, but we have to save intelligently”, begins by saying the president of the European Commission, proposing a reduction in electricity consumption “in periods of greatest demand”, in that the use of “expensive gas” for electricity production becomes unavoidable.
“This is what becomes more expensive, because in these peaks of demand the most expensive gas enters the production market”, stressed the head of the community executive, defending that it is necessary to “flatten the curve and avoid peaks in demand”.
“We are going to propose a mandatory objective, to reduce the use of electricity in times of high demand”, revealed the President of the Commission, promising to “work to the extent possible with European governments, to achieve the objective”.
Another initiative is aimed at the “enormous profits” of energy-producing companies, particularly those that have “low production costs such as renewables.”
“We are going to propose that these extraordinary profits be channeled to the Member States, so that they can support the most vulnerable families and companies,” said Von der Leyn, considering that “low-emission energies are generating enormous profits.”
“It is time for consumers to benefit from the low cost of low-emission energy, such as renewables,” defended the head of the community executive, adding that similar measures are also directed at fossil fuels.
“Oil and gas companies have also made huge profits. Therefore, there will have to be a solidarity contribution from these companies, because all energy sources have to help overcome this crisis, ”he added.
The president of the European Commission also wants measures to be sought to “guarantee liquidity” for energy-producing companies, since he believes that these “should be supported to face market volatility.”
“Unexpectedly large amounts of funds are being asked of it, which threatens its trading capacity and the stability of futures markets,” Von der Leyen stressed, promising to “facilitate liquidity support through member states for energy companies.” .
Fifth, Brussels proposes that a “ceiling” be set on Russian gas, with the “very clear objective” of “cutting off Russia’s revenues that Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine.”
Recalling that “at the beginning of the war, gas from Russia’s pipelines “accounted for 40% of all imported gas”, Von der Leyen highlighted the reduction to “only 9% of gas imports”, which currently Are registered.
The head of the community executive has also highlighted that the gas reserve “already exceeded” at the beginning of September the limit that it should reach until the end of October, and added that the reserves already account for 82% of the storage capacity in the European Union .
Source: TSF
