After the announcement

Increase in grid fees sparks political debate

Electricity grid fees are being increased again.

(Bild: P. Huber)

The electricity grid fees in Carinthia are to be increased: This announcement is causing huge resentment among the population and politicians. While the Freedom Party and the Red Party are at loggerheads, others are calling for uniform tariffs nationwide.

The announcement of a further increase in electricity grid fees of almost 15 percent for the coming year is not only causing anger among electricity customers. The plan is also causing quite a row in Carinthian politics.

For FP leader Erwin Angerer, the increase is "a scandal". After all, there has already been an increase of 21.4 percent this year. "The rip-off continues," says the blue politician, who once again identifies a failure on the part of the red-black state government.

Following the increase in electricity prices, Kelag and the state are raking in record profits and citizens have to pay extra for the costs of expanding the electricity grids.

Erwin Angerer, FP-Parteiobmann in Kärnten

Demand for uniform tariffs
And while the Freedom Party is outraged by the planned increase, Team Carinthia leader Gerhard Köfer is calling for a uniform grid fee throughout Austria. "Carinthia must no longer be treated worse than other federal states due to its geographical location," said the mayor of Spittal.

We are the province with the highest grid costs. Carinthians must not be second-class citizens. Low purchasing power and high grid fees - that doesn't go together.

Gerhard Köfer, Parteiobmann vom Team Kärnten

The Carinthian Social Democrats are once again making the same demand as Köfer. "Just as the freeway toll sticker and also the postal and cell phone tariffs are the same in all federal states, it must also be feasible to make the network tariffs in Austria uniform," says SP regional managing director Andreas Sucher, who takes a sharp shot at the FP. After all, the Freedom Party claims that Carinthia can influence the setting of electricity grid tariffs via the E-Control Regulatory Advisory Board. Sucher: "According to legal experts, this is simply not possible. Otherwise the FPÖ would probably have already done it when they were in government."