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The EEG subsidy program is a joke. The government guarantees a minimum price on your feed-in tariff. This means if the price is negative 8 cents and the feed-in

The EEG subsidy program is a joke. The government guarantees a minimum price on your feed-in tariff. This means if the price is negative 8 cents and the feed-in tariff is positive 8 cents (numbers are for illustration purposes), the government pays 16 cents. It's no different from what the central bank does with its zero lower bound guarantee on interest rates. The market rate on capital is negative? Gotta subsidize private capital holders with infinite QE. The guaranteed minimum price floor is zero, the interest rate is say -3%, the central bank essentially pays 3% interest to keep the house of cards from collapsing. Since negative interest rates cannot be represented in the current system, we have inflation as the band aid. The thing is, negative prices or interest rates aren't evil or bad on their own, they become dysfunctional the moment there is a guaranteed price floor. It's no different than a price ceiling. The only difference is shortage vs oversupply.

tcfhgj 2y ago
First of all, this isn't true. In case the prices drop negative, the solar plant will be disconnected from the grid remotely and the solar plant owner will get what he had gotten if the solar plant had not been disconnected from the grid. Second, subsidizing once expensive but mostly cleanenergy production technology, allowed renewable energy to thrive to the number 1 energy source worldwide, theoretically allowing to ditch fossil energy production completely by 2050 and stay within low risk climate warming - without significant degrowth, which otherwise would have been required for a certainty. So no, EEG isn't a joke, but a huge win for humanity.
- pfdietz 2y ago
  It was a huge win for humanity, kickstarting the rapid decline in PV cost over the last 15 years, but don't pretend there wasn't a cost to Germany. Acknowledge this remarkable act of global altruism.
  - tcfhgj 2y ago
    It wasn't cost to Germany, because it resulted in lower electricity prices. I'd call it investment
    - pfdietz 2y ago
      Yes, there was a decline in electricity prices, for the world as a whole. The cost was to Germany. Like I told you above, don't ignore that.
      - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
        Are we talking about a specific policy or the whole transition? The Wikipedia page on the EEG suggests that it's globally recognised as a success, and even when political pressure was being applied to reduce solar PV feed in tariffs faster than the original plan called for due to better than expected uptake, the merit order effect introduced in the same legislation was reducing the spot price of electricity by more than the cost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Sources_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Source...

tcfhgj 2y ago

First of all, this isn't true. In case the prices drop negative, the solar plant will be disconnected from the grid remotely and the solar plant owner will get what he had gotten if the solar plant had not been disconnected from the grid. Second, subsidizing once expensive but mostly cleanenergy production technology, allowed renewable energy to thrive to the number 1 energy source worldwide, theoretically allowing to ditch fossil energy production completely by 2050 and stay within low risk climate warming - without significant degrowth, which otherwise would have been required for a certainty. So no, EEG isn't a joke, but a huge win for humanity.

pfdietz 2y ago
It was a huge win for humanity, kickstarting the rapid decline in PV cost over the last 15 years, but don't pretend there wasn't a cost to Germany. Acknowledge this remarkable act of global altruism.
- tcfhgj 2y ago
  It wasn't cost to Germany, because it resulted in lower electricity prices. I'd call it investment
  - pfdietz 2y ago
    Yes, there was a decline in electricity prices, for the world as a whole. The cost was to Germany. Like I told you above, don't ignore that.
    - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
      Are we talking about a specific policy or the whole transition? The Wikipedia page on the EEG suggests that it's globally recognised as a success, and even when political pressure was being applied to reduce solar PV feed in tariffs faster than the original plan called for due to better than expected uptake, the merit order effect introduced in the same legislation was reducing the spot price of electricity by more than the cost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Sources_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Source...