Several trade unions and associations of energy-intensive industries as well as the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) demand a quick decision for an effective bridge electricity price in Germany. To this end, the organisations have joined forces to form an Alliance for a Bridge Electricity Price.
In total, the members of the alliance represent more than 1.1 million employees in over 8,000 companies. According to a recent brief study, a total of up to 2.4 million jobs and a good 240 billion euros in added value depend on the companies in the energy-intensive sectors. They secure high revenues for the federal, state and local governments with annual tax payments and social security contributions of around 90 billion euros.
“The non-ferrous metal industry is in an extremely difficult situation due to the high electricity prices. Some companies have already had to cut back their production sharply or stop it altogether”, says Franziska Erdle, Chief Executive of WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle. “Politicians must urgently move from discussion to action and introduce an industrial or bridge electricity price. Otherwise, there is a threat of the irrevocable loss of transformation-relevant industry in Germany and thus an increase in dependency in the supply of basic materials, especially on China.”
Preserving Germany as an industrial location
The members of the Alliance are in favour of a quick solution to the current debate on a bridge electricity price. It is “five to twelve” for the energy-intensive industries. Relocations, site closures and job losses have been looming for a long time.
Together they are committed to Germany as an industrial location and to the transformation to climate-neutral production. Electricity is becoming increasingly important. Until this is available in sufficient quantities from renewable energies, a competitive, time-limited bridge electricity price is urgently needed. After months of wrangling, a decision must now be made for the future of industry in Germany. Above all, the Federal Chancellor must take a clear stand, he said.
“The Federal Government must now set the course for Germany to become a successful and climate-neutral industrial country. High-quality industrial jobs and strong industrial value creation will have to continue in the future. To achieve this, industry finally needs reliability and competitiveness in electricity prices. However, this must not be achieved without also committing to location and tariff loyalty”, said Yasmin Fahimi, Chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation. “Despite all the efforts of the federal government, we must not stop halfway. The federal government must therefore follow up its announcements with deeds and implement the bridge electricity price quickly. We simply cannot afford to wait and see.”
Talks with political representatives
In joint letters to political leaders at federal and state level, the Alliance announced that in the coming days and weeks it would be holding talks with prime ministers, members of the cabinet and members of parliament at federal and state level.
Kerstin Maria Rippel, Managing Director of the German Steel Federation: “The transformation to climate neutrality requires massive amounts of green electricity. And it must be affordable. Our electricity costs are two to three times higher than those of our European and international competitors. This hits the companies in the steel industry hard, which are currently making giant strides towards decarbonisation. That is why we need a bridge electricity price - not permanently, but for the transition. Until the point where renewable energies provide competitive prices in an intelligent electricity market design.”
