"When it comes to electricity, we're like the GDR"

E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen has compared Germany's energy policy with excessive state control in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). In an interview with tabloid Bild Zeitung, Teyssen said regarding Germany's energy transition: "The state wanted to control everything. This resembles the planned economy in the GDR." He added that "there never was a clear goal for the Energiewende". Some wanted to shut down Germany's nuclear plants, some advocated expanding green power productions and some tried to transfer power production to customers, leading to 4,000 different price categories for power. "People won't accept this forever," Teyssen added.

Find the interview in German here (behind paywall).

For background, see the CLEW factsheet Germany ponders how to finance renewables expansion in the future.