(Translated from German to English by DeepL)
Energy
"The big electricity lie": Why electricity becomes a luxury
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Lusatian
municipalities are hoping for potent buyers in the lignite mining
areas.
Monday, 28.03.2016, 17:43pm
It is well known that electricity comes from the socket - regardless of whether it is nuclear power or electricity from renewable energies. But it's becoming more and more of a luxury. A documentary wants to bring light into the darkness.
Especially in winter we got used to a warm apartment. In the morning we turn on the coffee machine, use the toaster or the hair dryer. And of course the light should be on when it's still dark outside. But the fact that the cost of electricity - which is of course always available - is rising all the time is something that many people like to ignore. These and other facts are the subject of the documentary "Die große Stromlüge", which can be seen this Tuesday (20.15, Arte).
In 2014 there were about 40,000 winter deaths in Europe because millions of people could no longer pay their electricity bills - the so-called energy poverty now affects about ten percent of almost all Europeans. Over the past eight years, electricity prices in Europe have risen by an average of 42 percent, especially in Eastern Europe (according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU).
In Bulgaria, for example, about 50 percent of the average income has to be generated for energy. The British, for example, have never really cared about energy efficiency and often live in draughty Victorian-style houses.
Eight million households could no longer pay their electricity bills
In Spain, around 28 percent of the population is affected by energy poverty, although thousands of citizens there are making a contribution to energy change by investing in their own solar power systems. The government had promised to buy their electricity at fair prices. A few years later, she changed her mind and set a new debt record. In France, the former state-owned company Electricité de France (EDF) still has a monopoly position.
This not only violates free competition in the EU, but also prevents thousands of French people who would like to produce their own energy from separating themselves from the state grid operator - as a result, eight million households there can no longer pay their electricity bills.
Seven million households fall under the heading of "electricity poverty
Although Germany has decided to phase out nuclear power, it still has to continue open-cast lignite mining, which is not only to the detriment of the environment but also results in the forced relocation of entire villages. Although the majority of Germans are in favour of switching to renewable energies and climate protection, on the other hand emissions are rising and the (now somewhat cooled) discussion about climate change is heating up again. In Germany there are seven million households that fall under the term "electricity poverty".
This is also due to the liberalisation of the electricity market, which was supposed to lower prices through competition. More than 20 years ago, the European Commission promised cheap and environmentally friendly energy and wanted to take control of the electricity markets to regulate supply and demand. But that didn't really work, because with the privatizations the power supply became not only more expensive, but also worse - and the consumer literally looks into the (cold) tube.
What will be in 20 years?
Film writer Cécile Allegra lets government officials and private consultants of energy companies have their say, as well as environmental activists and concerned citizens who increasingly describe electricity as a "luxury good". Many of them have been resettled, they have stuck with their property under false promises. Their anger is tangible, but governments have disappointed and disappointed many citizens and cannot deal with the protests.
Many facts break into the documentary about the viewer, too many possibly. Unfortunately, there is no certain classification, for example by country, and the commentary is teeming with technical terms and foreign words. It should not only be about galloping costs - because electricity prices continue to rise - but also about what will be in 20 years' time and what our generation will leave behind for the next generation. At any rate, a clean electricity market is not.