“Energiewende costs are increasingly passed on to private households – the industry benefits”

Industry, transport and manufacturing have benefitted from exemptions and rebates in the power sector to the tune of about 17 billion euros, much of which was shouldered by private households, said the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in a study, written by consultancy enervis energy advisors. For a fairer distribution of the costs of Germany’s electricity supply and the move to decarbonise it, the FES calls for a tax-financed energy transition fund to allow the reduction of the renewables surcharge (EEG surcharge). Exemptions for energy-intensive companies should be reduced and Germany’s electricity financing ought to get a comprehensive overhaul, since many of the taxes and levies were interdependent, the foundation argued.

Find the full study in German here.

For other proposals, read the CLEW factsheet Germany ponders how to finance renewables expansion in the future.