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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the European Union might redistribute profits from fossil fuel companies and impose energy consumption limits.
The bloc is currently weighing various measures to help member states cope with a freeze in Russian energy exports — including natural gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which Russia paused in reaction to Western support of Ukraine. In her State of the Union address, von der Leyen asserted that Russia is largely responsible for the energy crisis.
“Russia keeps on actively manipulating our energy market,” von der Leyen said, noting that natural gas prices have recently increased more than tenfold. “But Europeans are also coping courageously with this.”
Multiple European countries are imposing regulations for thermostat and appliance usage. However, von der Leyen announced that she would propose standards for European Union member states to reduce “overall electricity consumption,” funded by redistributing profits from energy companies.
“We are proposing a cap on the revenues of companies that produce electricity at a low cost. These companies are making revenues they never accounted for, they never even dreamt of,” von der Leyen said.
