That’s how much the price of electricity will rise

BERLIN. The member of the Economic Wise Men, Veronika Grimm, has prepared the Germans for a “challenging time”. The energy expert demanded in the World: “Politics must pour the people pure wine.”

So far she hasn’t done that. Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) recently spoke of falling electricity prices, which would result from the nuclear phase-out. Grimm takes a different view: “Shutting down the last nuclear power plants means that the price of electricity will be higher.” The government even “could have lowered the price if the nuclear power plants had been left to run.”

Electricity price will rise by twelve percent

A study made by the economists came up with “an increase in electricity prices of eight to twelve percent if the nuclear power plants are eliminated”. Grimm criticizes the nuclear phase-out in general: “The decision should have been made differently, but it will no longer be reversed.” The utility E.on even raised prices by 50 percent after the nuclear phase-out.

The expert also expects renewed price increases for gas in the summer, “when the storage tanks have to be refilled”. For the coming winter, “a gas shortage cannot be ruled out, because the gas storage tanks are only sufficient for about two months in a cold winter”. If next winter gets cold and Chinese demand picks up again after the lockdown there, “then things can quickly get tight”. (fh)