ČEZ sole carbon fat cat in European power sector

The newly published “Carbon Fat Cats 2011” study by the British environmental non-profit group Sandbag shows Czech state-controlled power giant ČEZ to be an oddity among its European energy peers. ČEZ has a considerable surplus of emissions allowances while most companies in the sector — including giants list Germany’s E.ON and RWE and Swedish Vattenfall — are running huge deficits. Generous government treatment for ČEZ, which is set to continue, is considered to be the main reason.