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....brought to you by taxes /subsidies: "Taxes and fees now amount to 52 percent of the monthly power bill for retail consumers....The renewable energy levy alo

....brought to you by taxes /subsidies: "Taxes and fees now amount to 52 percent of the monthly power bill for retail consumers....The renewable energy levy alone adds 18 euros to the average monthly bill." https://www.dw.com/en/german-electricity-price-is-half-taxes-and-fees/a-17849142-0 https://www.dw.com/en/german-electricity-price-is-half-taxes...

rndgermandude 7y ago
So? We heavily subsidize every energy source here in Germany, having done that since forever. Coal subsidies, nuclear subsidies (incl massive hidden, defacto ones), now renewables. If there were no subsidies the price would be in the same ballpark anyway, except the state would have no influence over where that money gets spent. The "renewables levy" isn't meant to be permanent high at the same level. It is meant to be seed money for research and initial construction to get the ball rolling. Startup money basically. It works by guaranteeing companies a minimum price for renewable power to reduce their investment risk.
- mqus 7y ago
  but the green energy subsidy (EEG) fee is ridiculously distributed. Anyone in the industry who really needs a lot of electricity doesn't have to pay it at all while it makes up 20-25% of the price for citizens. I can see that they don't want to scare off these companies but the way it works now is not good.
gameswithgo 7y ago
fossil fuels are also heavily subsidized
imtringued 7y ago
That's how it should be. The fact that the voters overwhelmingly voted for the green party during the EU vote despite the high electricity costs shows that supporting renewables is a priority for German citizens.
- onetimemanytime 7y ago
  >>The fact that the voters overwhelmingly voted for the green party during the EU vote despite the high electricity costs shows that supporting renewables is a priority for German citizens. Germans and voting...not a good argument, I'll leave it at that.
  - dang 7y ago
    Please do not post nationalistic swipes to Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

rndgermandude 7y ago

So? We heavily subsidize every energy source here in Germany, having done that since forever. Coal subsidies, nuclear subsidies (incl massive hidden, defacto ones), now renewables. If there were no subsidies the price would be in the same ballpark anyway, except the state would have no influence over where that money gets spent. The "renewables levy" isn't meant to be permanent high at the same level. It is meant to be seed money for research and initial construction to get the ball rolling. Startup money basically. It works by guaranteeing companies a minimum price for renewable power to reduce their investment risk.

mqus 7y ago
but the green energy subsidy (EEG) fee is ridiculously distributed. Anyone in the industry who really needs a lot of electricity doesn't have to pay it at all while it makes up 20-25% of the price for citizens. I can see that they don't want to scare off these companies but the way it works now is not good.

gameswithgo 7y ago

fossil fuels are also heavily subsidized

imtringued 7y ago

That's how it should be. The fact that the voters overwhelmingly voted for the green party during the EU vote despite the high electricity costs shows that supporting renewables is a priority for German citizens.

onetimemanytime 7y ago
>>The fact that the voters overwhelmingly voted for the green party during the EU vote despite the high electricity costs shows that supporting renewables is a priority for German citizens. Germans and voting...not a good argument, I'll leave it at that.
- dang 7y ago
  Please do not post nationalistic swipes to Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html