The biggest obstacle was fears that energy companies would make huge excess profits. Now they have found a solution for this, explains Akkerman.
‘The ceiling will be set at 1.45 euros per cubic meter of gas up to 1200 cubic meters and 40 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity up to 2900 kilowatt-hours for consumers. The fear was that if the market price were higher, the government would have to pay for everything. So those companies keep the price artificially high and can therefore make a lot of money. It has now been agreed with the energy companies that the profit margin for the past four years will be examined. If the companies then make a profit that is higher than the profit margin, this will be reported later and the accountant will look into it. The energy companies themselves are on board with this, so now it’s done.’
Block the connection
The support scheme for people with a lockdown connection is also ready, Jetten informed the House today. He will announce next week what exactly the fee will be. According to him, this is comparable to the regulation for the maximum price for electricity and gas.
About 700,000 people have a blocked connection. These families cannot take advantage of the price cap. This concerns households that share a gas, heating or electricity connection, such as flats, student houses or residential groups.
Illegal state aid
The House will discuss it on Wednesday. ‘There is broad support from coalition parties and beyond, but the question remains whether Europe will approve of it. Isn’t that a form of illegal state aid? However, the Cabinet is confident that we will certainly have a price cap from 1 January.’