“The criticism by the Court of Auditors holds true for the past”

The German Federal Court of Auditors’ criticism of how the economy ministry has managed the costs of the Energiewende holds true for the past, but not the current legislative period, economy minister Sigmar Gabriel told Frank Capellan in an interview for Deutschlandfunk. “Our main task for this period has been to reduce costs in the area of the Energiewende,” said Gabriel. Germany has not seen continuously rising wholesale power prices or EEG-surcharge, and the government has introduced tenders for renewables support to lower costs, he said. The auditors exaggerated when asking for an analysis of the tax effects of Germany’s transition, said Gabriel. “We wouldn’t be able to calculate these very well. To be honest: This question is impossible to answer.”

Read the interview in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article Government lacks overview of Energiewende costs – auditors and the CLEW factsheet What German households pay for power.