The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a mandatory 5% reduction in electricity consumption during peak hours to ease the bloc鈥檚 dependence on Russian gas.
鈥淲e're still confronted with a profound mismatch between supply and demand on the energy markets,鈥� Frans Timmermans, the EU Commission鈥檚 executive vice president in charge of green transition, told reporters at a news conference.
Timmermans revealed the details of the European Commission鈥檚 proposals on reforming the bloc鈥檚 energy market that Ursula von der Leyen, the EU institution鈥檚 president, has already outlined earlier on Wednesday in her 鈥淪tate of the European Union鈥� speech.
He accused Russia of 鈥渨eaponizing energy鈥� and 鈥渕anipulating our energy market.鈥�
This leads to 鈥渋ncreasingly unbearable energy bills鈥� and 鈥減ushing businesses to the brink of collapse and letting families go cold,鈥� according to Timmermans.
He stressed that the 鈥減re-war situation with abundant cheap fossil fuel鈥� is not coming back and the European energy markets must adapt to a new reality.
Timmermans explained that the European Commission proposes a mandatory 5% reduction of electricity consumption in peak hours with an aim to eventually lower it to 10%.
This way, 鈥渨e avoid using the most expensive gas-fired power plants and bring down the price of energy,鈥� he further said.
Timmermans underlined that the bloc has already managed to lower gas imports from Russia from last year鈥檚 40% to 9%, but a further reduction in gas consumption 鈥渋s fundamental to the success to tackle this energy crisis鈥� and to make the bloc 鈥渋mmune to Russia鈥檚 blackmail.鈥�
- Taxing energy companies
The European Commission also proposes a temporary revenue cap on 鈥渋nframarginal鈥� electricity producers who generate electricity with considerably lower cost, such as renewables, nuclear, and lignite.
If a company has revenue above the cap of 鈧�180 ($180) per megawatt hour, it will be obliged to pay the extra profit to member states who can help households and businesses.
According to the EU executive body鈥檚 estimations, the tax will result in over 鈧�140 billion ($140 billion) support to ease the consequences of the energy crisis.
The EU will also demand a temporary solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies.
The businesses in the oil, gas, coal, and refinery sectors must pay a profit that is above a 20% increase compared to the average of their profits in the past three past years.
The EU Commission will also allow state support for utility companies and cost-regulated energy prices.
By Agnes Szucs in Brussels
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr