BRUSSELS — Electricity will be taxed at a lower rate than fossil fuels across the bloc under a bill that the European Commission is poised to unveil next month, according to two EU officials.
The initiative is part of a wider strategy to power the EU with more electricity from nuclear energy and renewable sources, such as solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams.
“This is the second fossil fuel crisis in just a few years. We need to scale up homegrown, affordable, reliable energy,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Monday, referring to the energy crisis of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. “Our objective is very clear … shifting electricity generation to renewables and nuclear.”
The EU executive is preparing a range of measures in the coming weeks to cushion the bloc from the economic fallout of the Iran war. Threats of attack from Tehran and of a U.S. blockade have brought cargo vessels carrying oil and gas out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill. Around 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies come from the region, so the impasse has sent fuel prices skyrocketing.
