Wegner and Haseloff want a general reduction in electricity tax

Berlin – Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and Saxony-Anhalt's Minister-President Reiner Haseloff (both CDU) are calling on the federal government to reduce the electricity tax for private households. Rhineland-Palatinate's Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), however, defended the federal government's plans. "Small and medium-sized businesses and private individuals must also be relieved of the electricity tax, because energy costs have risen sharply for everyone," Wegner told the "Tagesspiegel" (Friday edition) with reference to the draft federal budgets for 2025 and 2026 presented by Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD). "The federal government urgently needs to improve this," Wegner said. Haseloff told the newspaper: "I strongly advocate staying close to the commitments made in the coalition agreement to reduce the electricity tax for everyone to the European minimum." This must be considered a major task in the budget negotiations. Haseloff argued that Germany needs growth. "To do this, the economy must be relieved. And the economy is more than just industry," said the state leader. Schweitzer, however, indirectly called on the CDU, CSU, and SPD to stick to Klingbeil's plans. "It is a joint proposal from the federal government, and I therefore assume that it will be jointly represented," Schweitzer told the "Tagesspiegel." Electricity costs are "high and too high for many," said the Mainz-based state leader: "That is why the federal government has decided on a mix of measures that will provide relief for private individuals and companies. To stimulate the economy in the third year of a recession, the electricity tax for energy-intensive industries has been reduced more sharply so that it remains competitive on the international market and jobs are preserved." He argued that he had fought for this as the state premier of a strong industrial state. Previously, state premiers Hendrik Wüst (CDU, North Rhine-Westphalia) and Dietmar Woidke (SPD, Brandenburg) had advocated for a greater reduction in electricity prices.