Dan Jørgensen’s energy plan will save 300 billion this year

The energy bill must be significantly reduced for citizens and businesses. In addition, energy in Europe must be greener and independent of Russia.

These are the main goals in the plan for affordable energy, which Denmark’s EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, is presenting in Brussels on Wednesday.

“The plan will reduce energy costs for industry and for ordinary households.

From next year, we can already save over 300 billion Danish kroner annually,” says Dan Jørgensen.

He expects the savings to gradually triple by 2030. Thus, by 2030, according to the plan, the EU will collectively be able to save 1000 billion kroner annually.

This should help not only citizens but also European industries struggling with weak demand and higher energy costs than companies in the US and China.

According to Dan Jørgensen, energy prices for European companies are two to three times higher than in the US and China.

“Of course, it will vary from sector to sector how much one will save depending on how energy-intensive they are,” says Dan Jørgensen.

For citizens’ energy bills in Denmark and the other 26 EU countries, there will also be a different effect. It depends on how quickly the countries transition their energy supply.

“But on average for a household in Europe, it will be somewhere between 2000 and 3000 kroner a year that can be saved,” says Dan Jørgensen.

The EU Commission’s plan proposes that the goal of lower energy prices should be achieved, among other things, by speeding up permits for renewable energy projects.

The goal here is to achieve a permit within six months.

At the same time, energy savings should limit the demand for oil and gas.

The EU countries’ electricity grids must be better interconnected to ensure cheap electricity where it is needed. Moreover, the EU Commission will decouple electricity prices from gas prices.

This has pushed electricity prices up in recent years as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to very high gas prices in the EU.

Question: “A significant part of energy prices is due to taxes. Will you encourage the Danish government and other EU governments to lower taxes”?

“It’s clear that the tax ticket is one of the large expense items on the electricity bill for both industry and households across Europe. The opportunity is used to bring extra money into the state treasury when an energy bill is sent out.

The money may be used to cover expenses unrelated to the electricity bill. It’s a clear signal from the EU Commission that tariffs should be considered if competitiveness is desired,” says Dan Jørgensen.

The plan also proposes buying gas from new suppliers. This should stop the continued EU purchase from Russia.

“Since Putin entered Ukraine, we have from a European perspective spent an amount on Russian energy equivalent to buying 2400 new F-35 fighter jets. This is, of course, 100 percent unsustainable.

For security policy reasons alone, we must move away from it,” says Dan Jørgensen.