2023-05-17 14:24:09
The Tyrolean Chamber of Labor has made good on its announcement and sued the state-owned energy supplier Tiwag because it believes there is a lack of transparency in the electricity price increase in 2022. A model lawsuit was filed with the Regional Court of Innsbruck via the Association for Consumer Information (VKI), said Erwin Zangerl, President of the Black Chamber of Labour, on Wednesday. When asked by APA, Tiwag declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Should the court determine a lack of transparency, this would of course also have an impact on the increase in the electricity price announced for this June, an AK spokesman specified to the APA. Then this could also be applied to it, because: “The Tiwag was non-transparent then and it is today.” It would not be made clear to people how the pricing would ultimately come about.
Negotiations with the company failed because of its “unyielding attitude”, Zangerl accused the energy supplier. Although an electricity report presented by the Chamber of Labor in February and a judgment by the Vienna Commercial Court against the Verbund group would demand transparency in the business practices of energy companies, Tiwag wanted nothing to do with it, Zangerl argued the procedure. Now they want to bring “light into the darkness” with the lawsuit. It is about “important fundamental questions” and, among other things, about “information and information about the actual procurement costs to be borne”. Above all, the AK report came to the conclusion that Tiwag and other providers must disclose “the cost structure” in their clauses – also with regard to in-house production.
According to Zangerl, the model lawsuit concerns the price adjustment of Tiwag in 2022 (working price). This was essentially justified by the development of the Austrian electricity price index (ÖSPI). “This is despite the fact that Tiwag is the largest electricity producer from hydropower in Tyrol,” remarked the head of the Chamber of Labour, uncomprehendingly. He expected that Tiwag would “probably also have to disclose its cost structure and actual procurement costs” in the proceedings, which had previously been refused: “The courts must now ensure the necessary transparency, since Tiwag was unfortunately not willing to do so.”
In April, the energy supplier had largely met the Chamber of Labor’s demands for an electricity price increase from June this year and therefore saw no reason for a lawsuit. CEO Erich Entstrasser argued, among other things, that the new tariffs from June will no longer distinguish between existing and new customers and that the tariffs will also be extended to the whole of Tyrol. The new price applies “to everyone”. In addition, one guarantees that the new tariffs “will be frozen upwards until the middle of next year”. Until now, Tiwag had tied its pricing to the ÖSPI due to a court ruling, but it should now be possible to pass on electricity price reductions to customers more quickly. The procurement costs are to be reviewed in autumn.
After the state-owned company has not increased the electricity prices for household and existing customers to date, Tiwag demands an energy price of 18.9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) from June, “as an incentive for a quick changeover” a time-limited bonus of 2 cents per kilowatt hour. For a standard household with an annual consumption of 2,900 kWh, the additional monthly costs will be nine euros, taking into account the electricity price brake. In autumn, the procurement costs are to be reviewed again “according to the then given market environment”. Actually, a labor price increase from 8 to 28 cents was originally planned for June.
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