Berlin (dpa -AfX) – Electricity customers in Germany are to be relieved from next year. This should happen via a federal grant of 6.5 billion euros to finance the transfer network costs. In this way, the cost loading of power customers should be steamed from the network charges, it was said from circles of the Federal Ministry of Economics. It brought a corresponding draft law into the government -internal vote. The structurally high electricity prices are still a major challenge for the economy and burdened consumers.
The federal grant is to be financed from the climate and transformation fund (KTF), a special pot of the federal government. The grant to the transmission network costs is now being implemented for 2026. In the following years, too, there should be relief with a volume of 6.5 billion euros in the KTF for power customers, the ministry said. This should be done via the network fees and possibly also proportionately through other levies that would also reduce electricity prices. However, the federal government still wanted to decide on the distribution. In the CDU, CSU and SPD coalition agreement, the aim is to permanently cover the network charges.
Part of the package of measures
The reduction in network charges is part of a package of measures by the federal government. The cabinet had already launched plans for relief for gas customers. Specifically, companies and consumers should be exempt from costs of the gas storage levy. It is also planned to steer the reduction in electricity tax for the manufacturing trade from 2026. At first, however, a reduction in electricity tax announced in the CDU CSU and SPD’s coalition agreement should not come for everyone – this had triggered broad criticism. The government had referred to household constraints.
Network charges rose
The network charges as part of the electricity price, which include the expensive expansion of the power grids, have increased significantly. The fees are incurred for the use of the electricity transmission network. They are then switched to consumers by the energy suppliers.
The federal grant should be dampened by the federal grant to the transmission network costs, according to the draft law. As a result, the associated cost loads of the power customers connected to the transmission network and to downstream distribution networks should be mitigated.
Expectation of Reiche
Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) said a month ago by the German press agency with a view to the federal grant on the transfer network costs: “The relief must be passed on to customers through the network operators. My clear expectation to the industry is: The relief must be received by the customer.”
It cannot be said in a general way how high the relief of each customer will be in the end result, said Kerstin Andreae, chair of the main management of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management a month ago. That is very different regionally. “On the one hand, it depends on how much electricity is taken from the transmission network in the respective distribution network, and on the other hand on the customer structure in this region.”/Hoe/DP/He