Terminated electricity contracts for several Edeka branches: “Then everything rots in our freezers”
Created: 09/16/2022, 16:37
By: Caroline Schäfer
The electricity contract for five Edeka branches in Osnabrück was terminated at the end of the year.
(symbol photo) © Michael Bihlmayer/imago
More than 1,000 consumers had their electricity contracts terminated by Stadtwerke Osnabrück, as well as several Edeka branches.
There is no affiliation contract.
Kassel/Osnabrück – Also in view of the Ukraine conflict escalating into war, energy prices are increasing immeasurably.
This causes electricity suppliers to repeatedly terminate consumers due to the high procurement costs.
According to media reports, more than 1,000 customers in Osnabrück were terminated by the public utility company.
Five Edeka branches are also affected by the layoffs.
Apparently there is no possibility of a contract.
Edeka | |
|---|---|
founding | November 25, 1907 |
CEO | Markus Mosa |
Revenue (2021) | 62.7 billion euros |
Edeka branches soon without electricity: contracts terminated at the end of the year
At the end of the year, the municipal utilities terminated the expiring contracts, reported the magazine
Wirtschaftswoche
.
What is actually a normal process is now becoming an ordeal.
In the past 24 years, follow-up contracts have always been offered, explained Mechthild Möllenkamp, who manages the Edeka stores in Osnabrück.
Now you're standing there without it.
"The municipal utilities didn't offer anything, that's the big disappointment for me," Möllenkamp told the magazine.
"Now I only deal with energy prices."
If electricity providers stop deliveries or terminate contracts, customers are usually not without electricity. Then those affected fall under the replacement or basic supply tariff of their basic supplier, informed the
North Rhine-Westphalia consumer
advice center .
Due to the energy crisis, however, the basic supplier currently has particularly expensive tariffs for new customers.
Edeka branches without affiliation contracts: more than one million euros in additional costs
However, the basic supply of Stadtwerke Osnabrück for three months is not an alternative for the manager of the Edeka branches.
This would increase the price to up to 80 cents.
Conversely, that would mean more than one million euros in additional costs for her five branches, the entrepreneur is quoted as saying by
Wirtschaftswoche
.
"We can't just shut down for two months, especially without electricity, because then everything in our freezers and cold stores will rot."
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A spokesman for Stadtwerke Osnabrück confirmed when asked by
Wirtschaftswoche
that a “smaller four-digit number” was affected by the layoffs.
These are mostly business customers.
It is currently not possible to offer follow-up contracts because the prices fluctuate too much.
"The calculability of prices for contracts related to a key date has become de facto impossible," explained the spokesman.
In view of the energy crisis, fears of a longer-term power blackout are growing.
The competent federal office provides tips and recommends an emergency supply.
Electricity in Germany is becoming more expensive: Bakeries are also worried about high energy costs
Concern about not being able to pay the electricity bills is growing, not only in Osnabrück, but also in other regions of Germany.
Bakeries in particular are helplessly exposed to the high energy costs.
The Calenberger Backstube from the Hanover region recently drew attention to their situation on Instagram.
"Due to the current increases in energy prices for electricity and gas, the German bakery trade is facing an unprecedented challenge," the article said.
Between the beginning of July and the beginning of September 2022, the price for short-term electricity on the exchange more than doubled from around 240 to over 500 euros per megawatt hour, reports the business
magazine Forbes
.
Companies whose agreed order quantity of electricity is not sufficient have to repeatedly buy more expensive electricity on the exchange.
The high price on the exchange also causes the price per kilowatt hour of electricity to rise for consumers with a slight delay.
However, Forbes
quoted economic
experts as saying that customers would only notice the effects of the increase on their electricity bills in one to two years .
(cheese)