“RWE tempts municipalities”
The recent boost in value of utility RWE’s shares comes as a blessing for many cities and municipalities in RWE’s home state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Flauger writes in the Handelsblatt. The increase in value of almost 70 percent since the beginning of the year is a financial relief for the public shareholders, which currently own about a quarter of the company. RWE incurred heavy losses due to changes in Germany’s energy system related to the Energiewende, Flauger says. But the rising share price could also tempt municipalities “to use the high prices for selling their shares,” he argues.
Read the article (behind paywall) in German here.
For background read the CLEW dossier Utilities and the energy transition.