Reform of the Energy Security Act: Bundestag facilitates government access to energy companies

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Industrial site of the PCK refinery: Especially crucial for the oil supply in East Germany

Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa

If significant bottlenecks threaten, the state in Germany should have easier access to energy companies in the future.

The Bundestag approved a corresponding reform of the Energy Security Act from 1975 with the votes of the government factions SPD, Greens and FDP as well as the left.

The AfD rejected the plans and the Greens abstained.

The Federal Council still has to approve the project, which according to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) could happen on Friday next week.

The law could have consequences for the PCK refinery in Schwedt an der Oder in Brandenburg, which is important for the oil supply of East Germany.

So far, it has primarily processed Russian oil.

PCK is majority owned by Rosneft Germany, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft.

Because of the embargo on Russian oil imports discussed at EU level, Habeck is looking for alternative oil sources for Schwedt via Rostock, possibly also via Danzig.

The law could also play a role in the gas sector.

Deep cuts for companies possible

Companies in the energy sector are part of the critical infrastructure in Germany.

This means that they have a special meaning for everyday life, which is why their own specifications apply.

If there is a "concrete danger" that a company will not fulfill its tasks and there is a risk that security of supply will be impaired, the reformed law can temporarily place it under trusteeship.

In order to ensure security of supply, the possibility of expropriation is created for companies in critical infrastructure as a last resort.

While the AfD politician Rainer Kraft accused the coalition of a poorly and hastily made law and "neo-communist ideas", the other two opposition factions, the CDU/CSU and the Left Party, signaled basic support.

CDU politician Mark Helfrich said the Union would have liked to support the traffic light, but had stomach ache at the point of price adjustments in the event of gas shortages.

Therefore, the Union can only abstain.

For the left, MP Matthias Birkwald criticized the fact that state-controlled companies should be privatized again after the risk to security of supply has subsided.

Nevertheless, the left agrees with the law.

If, in particular, gas imports to Germany are significantly reduced, gas suppliers are given the right to adjust their prices - i.e. to increase them.

The prerequisite is that the second or third level in the gas emergency plan, the alarm or emergency level, has been officially established.

Customers must be informed in good time and have the right to cancel.

The exemption for temporarily increased prices expires when the Federal Network Agency formally determines that the shortage has ended.

ani/dpa