High electricity grid charges

Mikl-Leitner and Doskozil put pressure on negotiators

Doskozil and Mikl-Leitner are putting pressure on their negotiators regarding electricity tariffs.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/www.VIENNAREPORT.at Reinhard Holl NLK Burchhart)

The "Zuckerl-Koalition" has not even been decided yet and yet it is already under pressure. Lower Austria's ÖVP governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Burgenland's SPÖ leader Hans Peter Doskozil are now taking their coalition negotiators in Vienna to task and demanding a fairer distribution of electricity grid fees. 

Energy costs are rising, but financial aid for the population, such as the electricity price brake, is coming to an end. Electricity and gas prices are therefore likely to rise in 2025, and not just because of higher energy costs - the price is also made up of grid costs as well as taxes and levies. The FPÖ and the Greens are therefore calling for countermeasures. The coalition negotiators ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS are still cautious. However, two provincial leaders have now spoken out to the "Krone" newspaper. 

Provincial leaders take negotiators to task
Two provincial leaders have spoken out to the "Krone". Lower Austria's ÖVP governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Burgenland's provincial leader Hans Peter Doskozil are calling on the next federal government to distribute electricity grid fees more fairly so that people in the eastern region do not soon pay twice as much. The prospective Zuckerl coalition has a duty.

 "The eastern region is making a mammoth contribution to the expansion of renewables," they both say. This is essential for energy independence, but inevitably also puts a strain on the electricity grids and increases the need for investment. In Lower Austria and Vienna, fees are rising by more than 30 percent - in Burgenland, they are rising by 23.6 percent, which is above the average.

"It is absurd that the model students in the expansion of renewable energy are now being punished for their efforts with higher grid fees," criticized Mikl-Leitner. Around 800 wind turbines and 120,000 PV systems across the country currently generate around 40 percent of renewable electricity in Austria. This has also helped Lower Austria to reduce its CO₂ emissions by over a third since 2005.

"We are driving forward the expansion of renewable energy with such commitment because we need to become less dependent on energy supplies from abroad and because we don't just pay lip service to climate and environmental protection. Our fellow countrymen must not be penalized for the fact that Lower Austria is making an important contribution to energy independence and climate protection for the whole of Austria," clarifies the head of the province. After all, three billion will be invested in grid expansion in Lower Austria alone by 2030. Plans that have been driven forward in the vast state for years by state vice president Stephan Pernkopf.

Doskozil: "It is completely absurd"
"It is completely absurd that the grid costs are not borne jointly by everyone," says Doskozil. Thanks to the expansion of renewables, Burgenland has recently been able to increase its energy independence from 50 to 62 percent. According to Doskozil, it is also wrong that the federal government now wants to phase out price-dampening measures such as the suspension of contributions for renewable energy and the reduction in the electricity levy at the end of the year. "These measures must be continued. With a new energy community, Burgenland is also offering its own solution for price stability," said the powerful SPÖ provincial governor.