German Green Party say "The four big energy companies are acting like the four occupying powers.

The four big energy companies referred to in this NYT article are E.on, RWE,EnBW and Vatenfall!

The whole world needs to realise how ruthless and manipulative these companies are.

Thankfully even people in Germany seem to be kicking up against them.

If you work for these companies we are sure you realise the pressures for growth that you are under to achieve more and more growth!

Merkel Takes an ‘Energy Trip’


By JUDY DEMPSEY

Published: August 18, 2010

New York Times
— Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing intense pressure from nuclear power companies to extend the life of their plants, began a cross-country tour Wednesday before deciding on a long-term energy policy with far-reaching implications for Germany, which has Europe’s largest economy.

Just back from her summer vacation, Mrs. Merkel is visiting wind, coal, solar and nuclear energy facilities in the next few days as part of her “energy trip.”

It is a strategy aimed at persuading the public that she is not beholden to the nuclear lobby, nor for that matter any other energy lobby, according to Steffen Seibert, the government spokesman. On Wednesday, Mrs. Merkel visited a wind park in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The German nuclear lobby is dominated by four companies: RWE, E.ON, EnBW and Vattenfall. In the past few weeks, they have been campaigning aggressively to persuade the public to vote to reverse a law enacted in 2002 by the Social Democratic-Green government at the time that would shut all the country’s 17 nuclear plants by 2022.

The companies also want the government to scrap plans to impose a new tax on fuel rods. They even threatened this week to close their facilities if the tax, due to be voted on by the cabinet next month, is introduced.

The tax is part of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble’s plans to bring in up to €80 billion, or $103 billion, from 2011 to 2014 to help address the budget deficit. The fuel rod tax would bring in about €2.3 billion a year.

The government says it will not bow to pressure from the nuclear energy companies. But Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of the Social Democrats, now in the opposition, has told Mrs. Merkel to quit negotiating with the nuclear power lobby.

“There is no reason to negotiate with the nuclear power companies,” Mr. Gabriel said. “A fuel tax is not needed to pay for extending the life of the plants but to keep the taxpayers from footing the bill of up to €10 billion for refurbishing old, dilapidated waste storage facilities.”

Renate Künast, a parliamentary leader of the Green Party, also now in the opposition, accused the four nuclear energy companies of treating Germany as if it were their fief.

“The four big energy companies are acting like the four occupying powers,” Ms. Künast said, referring to France, Britain, Russia and the United States, which occupied Germany after 1945. She said the nuclear companies “have divided up the country into four zones and are trying to push through their interests.”

Undaunted by criticism, the nuclear energy companies have repeatedly argued that if the nuclear plants are shut in 2022, Germany’s energy security would be undermined. They have claimed that the availability of alternative sources of energy, particularly renewables that include wind and solar, would not be sufficient to make up for the loss of nuclear power.

Nuclear power accounts for 11 percent of Germany’s total primary energy supply; it provides over 21 percent of electricity generation.

JurgenTrittin, a Green leader and former environment minister, dismissed fears that Germany’s energy security would be compromised. Demand for renewable energy keeps increasing.

And the current environment minister, Norbert Röttgen from Mrs. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said this month that the government was committed to increasing the share of renewable energy in gross domestic consumption to nearly 20 percent by 2020, compared with about 10 percent today.

nuclear companies, trying to convince a skeptical public that atomic energy is safe, claim that it is efficient and important for fighting climate change.

Moreover, they say, if the plants were closed in 2022, it could lead to higher energy costs and job losses.

But analysts argue that the more Germany expands the renewable energy sector, whether for domestic consumption or exporting the equipment, the greater the potential for creating jobs.

According to the environment ministry, more than 250,000 people work in the renewable energy sector. Renewable energy accounts for 8.7 percent of the total primary energy supply but accounts for 15.6 percent of electricity generation.