BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government aims to impose a levy on all gas consumers to help suppliers grappling with rapidly rising import prices, a proposal seen by Reuters showed on Friday.
If parliament approves the plan, the government could introduce the levy instead of a general price adjustment clause that would allow suppliers themselves to pass price increases on to customers.
The legislation is expected to be passed by parliament on July 8, according to industry sources and the government.
Germany is scrambling to put an emergency mechanism in place before July 11, when 10 days of scheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia will halt flows completely.
Experts warn that outage could be extended, exacerbating gas shortages and pushing prices up even further.
The additional costs for replacing gas from Russia will be shared among all gas customers in a transparent and non-discriminatory procedure via Trading Hub Europe, an organization of gas network operators.