High German household power prices show lagging grid expansion, need for taxes and levies reform

Household power prices in Germany were the EU's highest in the second half of 2017, according to eurostat. Germans paid an average of 30.5 cents per kilowatt hour, followed by Denmark with 30.1 cents per kilowatt hour. The prices reflected that the development of the power grid is not keeping up with renewables expansion, said Carsten Linnemann, federal parliament member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), writes Andreas Mihm in an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Energy industry association BDEW head Stefan Kapferer said that the European comparison showed that Germany needs to reform its energy tax and levy system, writes Mihm.

Find the press release in English here and the FAZ article (behind paywall) in German here.

For background, read the updated CLEW factsheet What German households pay for power.