But it's not free power. That's just the ny times speaking to it's audience's wishful thinking. It's power that the grid operators are legally required to pay

But it's not free power. That's just the ny times speaking to it's audience's wishful thinking. It's power that the grid operators are legally required to pay to deliver, which means consumer electricity prices are higher. And it's caused by a system where a consumer electricity surcharge pays a fixed, above market price per kWh. In a country where zero emission nuclear power is banned, and tax fueled subsidies support fossil fuels to replace it. So this "free" power is paid for in higher electricity prices for consumers (Germany has some of the most expensive electricity in the world), low profit for producers (the two biggest energy companies have seen income from production drop by more than 33% over 4 years), and higher CO2 emissions (emissions from energy production, and % of coal generated power, have risen under this policy). It would be much better to just tax people to buy power for civic projects like the ones you mention. Unfortunately our expensive "free" electricity doesn't come with perks like that.