“Brakes on the system”

Despite the picture portrayed by high approval ratings in surveys, public acceptance of the German Energiewende has fallen due to electricity costs, writes Daniel Wetzel in Die Welt. Germans have declared their support for the switch to renewables, but are less and less willing to pay for the complex transition. They have also opposed certain aspects, like wind turbines close to their homes, Wetzel says. Since the nuclear phase-out is a done deal the struggling big utilities can no longer be cast in the role of bogeymen, “the Energiewende has suddenly become complicated, confusing, contradictory and is lost in details of regulation,” Wetzel writes. This will make it more complicated for the German government “to create an emotional entourage and acceptance from the paying consumer”.

Read the article in German here.

Find the results of past and current surveys in the CLEW factsheet Polls reveal citizens' support for Energiewende.