“Sensational profits, government-guaranteed”

The Association of Energy Market Innovators (BNE) and the renewable power provider LichtBlick welcome plans by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) to lower grid fees by decreasing the return on equity operators invest in Germany’s grid infrastructure, writes Jürgen Flauger in Handelsblatt. “The Energiewende must no longer be misused as the justification for sensational profits in this monopoly area. For energy customers, decreasing interest rates finally means relief in the billions of euros,” BNE managing director Robert Busch said in a press release, presenting a study by Leuphana University of Lüneburg. The Federal Network Agency regulates interest rates on operators’ investments in grid infrastructure. Last week, grid operators protested against the plans by BNetzA president Jochen Homann.

Read the press release by BNE and LichtBlick in German here.

Find the study commissioned by BNE and LichtBlick in German here.

Find background in the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s power grid.