“Power more expensive in the West”

Grid fees in western Germany are set to rise sharply in 2017, while fees in the east fall, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports. According to the research institute ewi ER&S, industrial enterprises connected to the high voltage grid will see the biggest impact of a planned reform of grid fees, facing price hikes of up to 72 percent in the west and cuts of up to 28 percent in eastern Germany, the article says. Private customers are expected to see more moderate effects, with households in west Germany paying up to 6 percent more, and those in the east up to 3 percent less. The reform aims to “more evenly distribute grid costs among grid users,” the study explains. Industrial customers in the densely populated west currently pay less for using the grid than those in the relatively sparsely populated east.

See the study in German here and the article in German here.

For more information on the Energiewende’s transmission infrastructure, read the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s power grid.