The government is beginning to worry about how to arrange it so that there is always enough electricity when it is needed. So that there is no darkness. And the first proposal has already been published: to adopt a law that would prohibit the shutdown of state-selected coal-fired power plants. An article about it was published by the News List.
The law, or the relevant amendment sections of the existing Energy Act have not yet been formulated, let alone approved by a vote of the legislatures. And the European Commission will also have a say in this, which has to approve the paragraphs approved by us. But no matter how it all turns out, the important thing has already happened. The planned economy has reached the stage of non-functionality.
The quoted idea is certainly a reaction to the warning of coal energy entrepreneurs, including ČEZ, that they will no longer operate their coal-fired power plants after 2025, because it will not be profitable for them, they will suffer losses. But the government planned to operate them until at least 2033, maybe 2035, or even 2038, depending on which date of the relevant reports you open. Until then, he has no compensation for them. The electric power system cannot do without their backup power, which would compensate for fluctuations in the production of electricity by renewable sources.
However, this plan came into conflict with the five-year plan of the European Union with the aim of paying coal-fired energy with emission allowances and redistributing this additional tax towards renewable sources (RES). The result is an overproduction of electricity from subsidized RES in periods of favorable weather. Then nobody needs and buys energy from fossil sources, or at prices that do not even cover variable costs. On the contrary, there is a threat of a lack of energy when it is needed, which could be solved by fossil sources, but the price of this energy is burdened by the price of emission allowances, variable costs (for operation, fuel, etc.) and fixed costs – these are those for the existence of those power plants. How many will be issued for the needs of industry, including energy, is decided by the European Commission. Plannedly.
The European subsidy system guarantees subsidies to RES operators even for excess electricity with a zero or negative market price. In contrast, payments for back-up resources are considered unauthorized aid. Entrepreneurs in coal energy have announced that they do not intend to continue operating like this.
The state is therefore now considering a planning document that would mandate the operation of power plants by law to entrepreneurs. According to the wording of the article, he himself would determine which of the sources specifically will be in forced operation. He would then provide them with sufficient payments so as not to liquidate them economically. “The state enterprise ČEPS, which is responsible for the functioning of the distribution network, would decide which resource is indispensable. ČEPS would report the selected sources to the Energy Regulatory Office, which would order them to operate. The state would dictate what should remain in service. And the company will then send an invoice for it,” an article from Seznam quotes a report from one of the participants in the ongoing political debates.
For those who find this strange, know that a similar procedure was quite common in the socialist planned economy. Only the law had a different name, it was a binding five-year national economic plan. First, all income was collected from businesses: 95% of profit tax and all depreciation. After that, money was allocated based on that plan. For operation, for investments, for the purchase of materials, foreign exchange for imports… According to the same pattern, energy companies have now supplied themselves in the form of emission allowances, or taxes on windfall profits. Why is a law being invented to order selected entities and selected power plants to operate for at least another five-year period, or two, for which part of the collected money may be returned to them – they will be able to invoice based on the decision of the state ČEPS, or ERO.
This is far from an isolated idea. Last week, the European Council discussed the supposedly ground-breaking Report on the State of the Internal Market. It is called Much more than just a market. What can we find in it? “Further strengthening of unification and bureaucratization in various fields, from capital markets and financial services, the telecommunications market to the energy market. The European Council rejoiced at the Report, with words flying around about a ‘new deal on competitiveness’ and ‘creating the conditions’ that would allow companies to better take advantage of the opportunities provided by a ‘climate-neutral, digital and circular economy’. If you read between the lines new massive redistribution, new subsidies, new incentives, new advantages, patronage and incentives, then you are reading well,” Jaroslav Jakl evaluated the report on the website of the Invisible Dog server. And also the deepening of the planned economy, adds the Economy World.
It creeps up inconspicuously like Marxism-Leninism, but faster and without class struggle, so without revolutions. Although… proletarians from the German company Thyssenkrupp are rebelling against the sale of the share of the Czech company EPCG. They fear not so much Daniel Křetíský, but rather the cancellation of thousands of jobs in Duisburg and other German operations due to the loss of the company’s competitive ability to produce and sell steel at costs burdened by expensive energy and emission allowances. With a high probability, a similar problem lies deep in the crisis of the Vítkovic steel company Liberty and its energy supplier, Tameh. In this case too, the trade unions have already expressed their opinion, but the words about rioting would be somewhat exaggerated…
Provided by the server The world of economics
