Ahead of the joint conference of the Federal and State Prime Ministers in Berlin, Olaf Lies, the government head of Lower Saxony, and Manuela Schwesig, the government head of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (both SPD), are calling for a significant reduction in energy costs.
In a draft resolution put forward by the two states for the Prime Ministers’ Conference taking place on Thursday, as cited by the newspaper “Welt” in its Thursday edition, the states demand that the Federal Government structurally reduce state price components related to energy and decrease reliance on imports.
To achieve an immediate drop in electricity prices and boost incentives for electrification, they propose that the electricity tax for all consumers be lowered swiftly to the minimum legally permissible threshold within the EU.
Furthermore, the two state governments are pushing for a renewed acceleration in the expansion of renewable energies, particularly offshore wind power. They also call for greater flexibility in utilizing local energy sources and the creation of a “national gas reserve.”
Schwesig justified the joint initiative to the newspaper: “At the conference of Prime Ministers and in discussions with the Federal Chancellor, the most important thing for me is ensuring that the economy is spurred and jobs are secured. To achieve this, we need lower energy costs in Germany.”
