"The water prices of the municipal utilities are not - as the Hessian Minister of Economics would have us believe - excessive," contradicts Manfred Siekmann, Chairman of the Management Board of the local water supplier, after the explanations of the Hessian antitrust authorities became known yesterday. There are enough towns and municipalities in Hesse whose water supply is organised under public law and whose charges significantly exceed SWG's prices, Siekmann continues. Siekmann cited Grävenwiesbach as one of many outstanding examples: residents there pay EUR 479.57 for the 150 cubic metres of annual consumption identified by the antitrust authorities, i.e. EUR 117.41 or more than 32% more than the citizens supplied by Stadtwerke Gießen. This is despite the fact that such a fee schedule does not generally include all services, as is the case with a water supply organised under private law. As an example, the business graduate cited the restoration of the water house connection after the regular utilisation period has expired. This service is included in the price for private companies that organise their water supply in accordance with the "General Supply Conditions" (AVBWasserV). This alone amounts to just over 30 cents per cubic metre.
The fact that the Giessen proceedings began in June 2002 and are still a long way from a final judgement by the cartel authority also shows that Giessen is certainly not dealing with the highest of the prices in question.
Another "performance plus" for the Giessen water supply, which clearly distinguishes the city from other supply situations in terms of costs, is its membership of the Central Hesse Waterworks Association (ZMW). This ensures that the citizens of Giessen benefit from a double security of supply. "In the event of a supply failure from our Queckborn waterworks, it is possible to switch the entire water supply here in this city over to the ZMW," explains Siekmann. SWG proved this back in 1995.
When the city of Giessen joined the predecessor association of today's ZMW in the middle of the last century, it was initially for other reasons that persuaded the city fathers of the time to join. Due to the increased population, refugees and occupying forces, it was assumed in the post-war years that water consumption would rise exorbitantly in the following decades, so that this volume forecast alone made it imperative to have another pillar of the water supply. This volume forecast was taken as the basis for the contractual pricing for the members of the ZMW, but in reality - particularly due to the decline in consumption in recent decades - was not realised, which means that Giessen's municipal utilities now have to pay so-called idle costs for a contractually agreed volume that was not purchased.
"It is important to me that it becomes clear that we have water prices here in Giessen that stand up to comparison and that one can definitely speak of an extraordinary cost situation here," Siekmann summarised in conclusion.