SPD Criticizes CDU’s Merz on Network Charges
A sharp critique of CDU’s Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz came from the SPD on the topic of network charges.
To secure jobs in the industry, energy prices need to come down, said SPD economy policy maker Esra Limbacher to the “Spiegel”. “Particularly with network charges, there is a need for action. We need a decision now, or stagnation until summer is threatened.”
The SPD wants to halve the network charges, currently at 6.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. As Merz has so far refused to take this on board before the federal election, Limbacher warns that the election campaign should not lead to a standstill in the country. “The Union has long neglected the grid expansion” said the general secretary of the Saarland SPD, “now it’s leaving companies and employees to stand in the rain with the rising network charges.”
Limbacher accuses Merz of prioritizing “new doom and gloom in the industry to make political profit out of it”. This is irresponsible. Merz should be part of the solution, “instead of being an eternal total refuser in history”.