“An Energiewende fund for more justice”

Replacing Germany’s renewables surcharge with a tax-financed energy transition fund could help to distribute the financial burden associated with expanding low-carbon energy sources more fairly, a study commissioned by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vbzv) has found. According to the study by energy consultancy enervis, an Energiewende fund could bring 70 million customers potential savings of up to 250 euros per person and year. Private customers currently used 25 percent of the electricity in Germany but footed 36 percent of the bill, vzbv head Klaus Müller explained at the study’s presentation in Berlin. Financial capabilities of families were not accounted for under the current system, making poorer households spend a larger fraction of their income to fund renewables, Müller added. If the surcharge was replaced by a fund, income and corporate taxes would have to rise in order to compensate for the more than 25 billion euros in revenue generated by the surcharge, the study says.

Find a press release by the vzbv in German here.

For more information, see the CLEW article Debate on financing renewables in new ways gathers pace in Germany as well as the CLEW factsheet What German households pay for power.