Some of the measures that European governments have taken to keep electricity costs down can be described as a “Ponzi scheme,” said Dan Brouillette, who served as energy secretary under the Trump administration.
“One of the easiest policy levers if you will, is that you can pass a bill, appropriate money and give money to citizens to pay their electricity bills,” Brouilette told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan on Monday.
Brouillette warned of the “inflationary impact” of such measures should governments employ such policies to tackle the spike in prices.
When asked about whether such measures resemble a Ponzi scheme, Brouillette replied, “You could describe it that way. There’s no question about that.”
“It alleviates the immediate pain of not being able to pay the electricity bill, but the money just moves in a circle … It just goes from the consumer to the electricity company … it’s not a long-term solution,” he added.
The EU countries’ energy ministers will meet on Friday to discuss methods to curb surging gas prices.
Europe’s gas prices jumped 30% higher on Monday after Russia announced that its main gas supply pipeline would remain shut indefinitely. Europe in recent months endured a sharp drop in gas exports from Russia, traditionally its largest energy supplier.
‘Produce more’
The former energy secretary said consumers can expect higher energy prices in the near term.
Oil markets around the world are “very tight,” and more oil is…
