In a press release published yesterday, Stadtwerke Gießen AG (SWG) rejects the criticism of the Giessen Tenants' Association regarding the gas price increase in January 2005. According to SWG, it does not correspond to the facts that changes in the gas price level, in contrast to the oil price development, are merely upward movements. The Giessen gas price was only reduced on 1 January 2004. Within the last three years, SWG has realised a total of three reductions and two increases in these prices. The prices were reduced on 1 October 2001, 1 April 2002 and most recently on 1 January 2004. The local supplier implemented increases on 1 January 2003 and 1 October 2004, but the fact is that SWG is tied to the development of the oil price by supply contract, as is usual throughout Germany, and there are no signs of any change here for the time being. A long-term supply contract has been concluded with the upstream supplier Ruhrgas AG, in which the gas price is tied to the development of the heating oil price. According to this agreement, the Stadtwerke's purchase price changes quarterly according to an arithmetic mean of the heating oil price published by the Federal Statistical Office for average purchase quantities. However, unlike the local tenants' association, SWG does not consider this link to be outdated. This is because the price of natural gas is a market price. The most important competitor in most European countries is heating oil as the key "energy currency" because it can replace natural gas in applications. Natural gas can therefore not decouple itself from developments on the primary energy markets as far as price development is concerned. A price increase is also unavoidable for natural gas if, as is currently the case, the price of heating oil rises.
22.12.2004