Austria's Competition Watchdogs Criticize Concentration on Gas Market

PeopleExecutives ♦ Published: August 20, 2024; 14:51 ♦ (Vindobona)

The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) and the regulatory authority E-Control recently presented the second interim report of their joint Electricity & Gas Task Force. This investigation is a reaction to the developments in the Austrian energy markets, which are characterized by strongly fluctuating prices and high market concentration.

Plant for the processing of natural gas in Aderklaa, Lower Austria. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / C.Stadler/Bwag / CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

The market concentration on the Austrian natural gas market is very high, one could “speak of quasi-monopolistic dimensions”, said the head of the Federal Competition Authority (BWB), Natalie Harsdorf. “Further results are now available, including on procurement strategies and prices, the effects of the electricity cost subsidy, the supply and switching behavior of consumers, and…