Federal Network Agency announces reform of the electricity pricing model
A comprehensive grid fee reform aims to fairly distribute costs for electricity consumers, reduce prices, and advance the energy transition.
(Image: pan demin/Shutterstock.com)
The Federal Network Agency wants to reform the grid fees in order to make them more consumption-based in future and thus reduce electricity costs. Until now, all consumers have paid a flat fee for using the electricity grid, regardless of their actual consumption or connected load. In future, households with low electricity consumption will pay less, while large consumers who require a higher connected load will be asked to pay more.
In addition, grid fees in Germany currently vary greatly from region to region. This leads to significantly higher charges in the north and north-east of Germany in particular. A lot of electricity is generated from renewable energies there, and the costs for expanding and maintaining the infrastructure are correspondingly higher. Population density is also lower there, with fewer people producing more electricity. In 2023, grid fees were highest in Schleswig-Holstein. In contrast, grid fees are lower in some federal states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where more people produce less electricity from renewable energies. The new regulation is intended to distribute the additional costs resulting from the expansion of renewable energies more fairly and to balance out regional differences.
(Image: Bundesnetzagentur)
Two-stage model
The first step is to determine the particular cost burden on grid operators. To do this, the Federal Network Agency assesses the ratio of the connected generation capacity from renewable energies to the consumption load in the respective grid area and determines a key figure. If, on the basis of this ratio, the expansion of renewable energies results in an additional burden, this is to be financially compensated in a second step.
The resulting additional costs are then to be distributed nationwide among all electricity consumers. To this end, the existing "§ 19 levy", which is already intended to offset grid costs between different grid users, is to be expanded as unbureaucratically and legally securely as possible. In this way, burdened regions are to be heavily relieved and the broad masses lightly burdened. The relief amounts are to be refinanced via a surcharge for special grid usage on the electricity price, the amount of which will be announced by the transmission system operators on October 25.
Driving forward the energy transition and reducing burdens
In a statement, the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, emphasized the importance of the new regulation for a balanced electricity price: "We are creating fair grid fees for people and companies that live and operate in regions with a strong expansion of renewables. The energy transition is a joint task and investment in the grids benefits everyone."
The Federal Network Agency's decision has met with a mixed response: some interest groups and consumer associations see potential for cost savings and the promotion of renewable energies in the new tariffs. Others, on the other hand, fear that the model is too complicated, will not reach consumers in their everyday lives and could harm Germany as a business location.
(vat)
