Companies in western German industrial heartland want grid fee reform postponed

Companies in Germany’s industrial powerhouse North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have called for the postponement of the grid fee reform, which the government plans to pass this week, the regional newspaper Rheinische Post reports. Some local branches of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK) said the issue should be addressed by the next government instead, stressing that the regional alignment of grid fees would cost consumers and industry in NRW 500 million euros per year. Companies in the region consume 40 percent of Germany’s industrial power, note the chambers.
Grid fees paid by consumers in regions with a high share of renewables, mainly in eastern and northern Germany, are around twice as high as in NRW. Regions with high fees call for the national alignment of the fees in the law.

Read the article in German here.

Find data on NRW’s power mix in the factsheet Facts on the German state elections in North-Rhine-Westphalia, and background on grid fees in the factsheets Power grid fees – Unfair and opaque?, and What German households pay for power.