Lower Saxony demands: E-car charging cheaper during electricity surplus

“Use instead of curtailment”—this is the political demand now being made by Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens). When there is a surplus of electricity from renewable energies, charging prices for e-car drivers should plummet. “We need incentives and low tariffs,” said the minister in an interview with the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (in an interview with the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”). It costs a lot of money to “throw away” electricity. Therefore, the surpluses, which exist in his federal state to a very high degree, should be better utilized.

“Charging an e-car in East Frisia must become cheaper when there is too much electricity in the grid,” said Meyer. Too little is said about the “95 percent per year” – i.e., those periods when there is a surplus of wind and solar power.

Implementation: Details remain open

It remains open how exactly the proposal is to be implemented in everyday life. Would only e-car drivers who charge at home and perhaps already use dynamic electricity tariffs benefit from this? Or would the relief also benefit those who rely on public charging stations because they live in an apartment, for example, or own a house without direct parking space for the car? Meyer only says in this context that the electricity tax must be lowered for everyone. “That would be socially just and would also help the economy.”

According to the Federal Network Agency, the costs for so-called grid bottleneck management amounted to 2,776 billion euros in 2024. In total, measures with a volume of 30,304 gigawatt hours were taken. Plant operators receive financial compensation in the course of a so-called redispatch, i.e., when their plant is curtailed to stop electricity generation. (According to the Federal Network Agency). In 2025, declines in the volume of measures were recorded in the first half of the year, although costs rose by about 37 percent in the first quarter alone compared to the same quarter of the previous year. (In 2025, declines in the volume of measures were recorded in the first half of the year)

Not the first initiative from Lower Saxony

A similar initiative from Lower Saxony already took place in 2022. The current Minister-President Olaf Lies (SPD) advocated for different electricity price zones at the time, together with colleagues from other northern German federal states. At that time, however, it was less about the surpluses than about the effort that the respective federal states are making to switch to renewable energies.

(mki)