Business & Money
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Utilities hiking power prices

Published: 18 Nov 09 17:32 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20091118-23367.html

Two German utilities – Vattenfall and EWE – announced on Wednesday they would dramatically raise electricity prices for their customers starting next year, blaming the higher cost of renewable energy.

Vattenfall said private customers would have to pay 5.9 percent more in Berlin and 4.4 percent more in Hamburg starting January 1. The hike means an average household would have to fork out an extra €28.80 in Berlin and €24 in Hamburg each year. Businesses will see their electricity costs surge 8.9 percent.

Germany’s fifth largest power provider, Oldenburg-based EWE, also said it was raising prices on average by 14 percent next year.

The move follows EnBW's decision to raise prices by 7.5 for some of its private customers.

Consumer website Verixov.de have counted at least 40 power companies planning to charge more next year. Many have said they have no choice as their costs rise from legislation meant to encourage firms to turn to renewable energy sources.

The country’s two other biggest utilities, RWE and E.ON, have not yet follow the price hikes after bleeding customers due to increasing competition in recent years.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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18:07 November 18, 2009 by HerrDinksbumps
One of the dumbest things going on in Germany - already high energy prices being increased yet again - to subsidize freakin' windmills - an absolutely INefficient source of energy - energy intensive to manufacture, erect, etc.. - and don't forget - SOMETIMES THERE'S NO WIND!! But we pay for it even when there isn't..

Meanwhile the superstitious anti-atomic fanatics are doing everything possible to phase out THE most efficient - and CLEANEST source of energy there is.. Totally crazy - Germany, a relatively intelligent country - is just plain retarded when it comes to energy priorities...

This is all worded as if the power companies are responsible. But they're not - it's the imbecillic freakin' Greens...
18:11 November 18, 2009 by boomtown_rat
CLEANEST source of energy there is
I need educating, how is nuclear cleaner than hydroelectric or tidal for example?
18:45 November 18, 2009 by HerrDinksbumps
I should've said "significant" source of energy - as in enough to cover a significant part of the baseload the country needs..

As it stands, it could be that on a particularly windy day, coal plants could have to be shut down - a MAJOR waste of money and thus efficiency.. - in order to get all the wind energy onto the grid..

Hydro-electric power is hardly perfect either btw.. See China's Three Gorges project.. Even small scale hydro power is probably nowhere near as efficient as nuclear.. Question of scale.. I.e. the energy needed to build the dams, hydro-plants, etc.., compared to the eventual energy produced, gives the efficiency - and I would wager that hydro is significantly less efficient than nuclear. Somebody google the efficiency chart...
19:39 November 18, 2009 by timw
as I understand it, coal plants can't be shut down completely as it it takes too long to fire them back up again.

They can be put into a kind of stand-by mode (reduced output) but this mode is even less energy efficient than keeping

them on full throttle

agree totally about the stoopid wind machines though - highly subsidised enviromental f**k ups
19:45 November 18, 2009 by HerrDinksbumps
One of those cases - complete shut downs or partial - whatever.. - happened a couple years ago I think during the Kuril storm in Germany..
19:48 November 18, 2009 by timw
yeah, bad use of the word "can't" - I meant "shouldn't"
19:53 November 18, 2009 by HerrDinksbumps
I don't mean to sound like some arch-conservative Rush Limbaugh fan btw.. I hate American conservatism..

Furthermore, I would tend to extremism in preserving a clean environment - including saving rainforests, endangered species, etc..(war against Brazil, anyone?..)

BUT, as long as global warming is a GLOBAL problem, it's absurd for us in Germany to paying for windmills when there's no wind.. And it's a million times more absurd to be against nuclear power - which in effect will just outsource it to Poland or whatever.. Might as well have it in German engineers' hands.. And in any event, %80 of France's electricity is from nuclear - so if they have a problem, Germany has a problem.. Germans are so retarded on this issue..
11:50 November 19, 2009 by Oblomov
They wouldn't blame "increased shareholder dividend demands" as a reason for the price hikes, would they?
12:25 November 19, 2009 by HerrDinksbumps
That's the case with any company.. But with energy, it'd be like putting a surplus on McDonald's food or pizza delivery places as a means to paying for the bio industry(another big sham - but not goverment-mandated - yet..) Tenuous analogy I know, but there's something there and I have food on the stove so am in a rush...
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