London: The European Union wants to raise $140 billion by tapping the windfall profits of some energy companies to help households and businesses pay eye-watering gas and electricity bills, media reports said.
On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed capping the profits of renewable and nuclear electricity producers, and taxing the windfall earnings of oil and gas companies, CNN reported.
Profits at power generators using wind, solar and nuclear energy have ballooned because their tariffs are linked to the wholesale price of natural gas, which soared to a record high in March after Russia invaded Ukraine, and now stands about 550 pert cent up on year-ago levels, the report said.
Europe sanctioned Russian oil and coal exports after the invasion, prompting Moscow to slash supplies of gas in return.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the bloc would conduct a “deep and comprehensive reform” to decouple the cost of gas from the price of electricity.
“These companies are making revenues they never accounted for, they never even dreamt of,” she told EU lawmakers in a speech in Strasbourg, France.
“It is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefiting from war and on the back of consumers,” she added, CNN reported.
The Commission’s proposals still need to be debated and adopted by EU member states.
The bloc could introduce a cap of $180 per megawatt hour on the electricity produced by renewable energy firms, the Commission said in a statement.
