DENMARK’s government wants to cap gas, electricity and heating bills to help households cope with energy prices that have soared across Europe, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said today. 

Frederiksen made her statement to journalists after the country’s August statistics showed that electricity and gas prices had increased five-fold in a year. 

“The government is proposing to cap the price that Danes have to pay for electricity, gas and urban heating,” she said. 

The bill, which will have to go before parliament, will cost an estimated 45 billion kronor (RM27.4 billion).

“We said from the beginning that we couldn’t protect all Danes from the consequences of Putin’s war,” she added. 

“But we cannot ignore the fact that there will be Danes this winter who won’t be able to pay for their electricity and heating.” 

If someone’s bill was higher than it was in autumn last year, she said, payment would be postponed to a later date, “once the price has fallen once again”, she explained. And payments could be spread out over five years. 

Today, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen set out proposals to bring down the soaring price of gas and electricity in the European Union, notably by effectively taxing windfall profits of power producers. 

Other steps involve rationing energy, temporary state aid and decoupling the prices of gas and electricity.

Denmark has already launched several initiatives designed to cut energy consumption, such as lowering heating and lighting in public buildings. – AFP, September 14, 2022.