German Energy Companies Seen Abusing Position

Head of the German Monopoly Commission, Jürgen Basedow, accused power companies of using regional strategies as a way of gaining local monopolies. Recently announced price increases by Germany's four biggest energy suppliers -- RWE, Eon, Vattenfall Europe and EnBW -- also caught Germany's Federal Cartel Office's attention. Some there think the companies are trying to increase profits before a regulatory committee is formed to look through their books sometime in late 2005 or 2006. EnBW head Utz Claassen said the price increases are the result of too little competition in the energy market and Germany's decision to move to environmentally friendly energy sources and to stop using nuclear power.