German states push for electricity tax cut for all; finance minister doubts funding

Germany's state premiers on Thursday called on the federal government to cut the electricity tax to the European minimum for all consumers "as quickly as possible." The relief agreed in the coalition deal between the conservative Union bloc and the Social Democrats has so far applied only to industry, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry. Private households and other businesses have not benefited. The states urged Berlin to use room in the federal budget to pay for it.

Gordon Schnieder (CDU) of Rhineland-Palatinate, who chairs the premiers' conference, called the tax a "federal matter" because its revenue goes solely to the federal government. North Rhine-Westphalia's premier Hendrik Wüst (CDU) said energy costs had become a huge burden, while Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Manuela Schwesig (SPD) said the cut was "urgently needed." According to dpa, some states, including Lower Saxony and Bremen, also see financing problems.

The tax currently stands at 2.05 cents per kilowatt-hour, against an EU minimum of 0.1 cents. Comparison portal Verivox calculates that a three-person household using 4,000 kilowatt-hours would save about 93 euros a year, with total relief for private consumers of around 3 billion euros annually. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) backs the cut, while Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) is open in principle but doubts it is affordable and has demanded proposals to fund it.