Energy Industry

These immense costs burden many companies. To protect the economy, the German legislature has created numerous exemptions and special regulations by which the extra-costs on energy may be reduced. Companies with high electricity Costs (“stromkostenintensive Unternehmen”), for example, may be largely exempted from the levy according to the Combined Heat and Power Act (KWK-Umlage), the levy according to Section 19(2) StromNEV, the offshore liability levy under Section 17 f EnWG and concession fees.

The German Act on Energy Tax also contains special provisions: According to Section 9 (1) No. 1 StromStG there is a tax exemption for electricity produced by renewable energy. In addition, Section 9 (1) No. 3 StromStG permits a tax-free delivery of electricity that is generated in units with an installed capacity of less than 2 MW under certain circumstances. Particularly, in constellations of on-site energy generation, energy tax may be saved. Finally, the so-called “Spitzenausgleich” according to Section 10 StromStG enables a reduction of energy tax.

Moreover, the regulations on grid fees provide room for cost optimization: For example, grid users with an atypical usage profile only pay individual network charges according to Section 19 (2) sentence 1 StromNEV. Even certain bulk consumers with constant consumption may benefit from the cost privilege according to Section 19 (2) sentence 2 StromNEV. Additional optimization may be achieved by establishing private network systems outside the regulated grid system, cf. Section 3 No. 24 lit. a and b EnWG.

In order to benefit from the maximum savings on extra-costs for electricity, consumers and producers need to adapt their energy generation and distribution concept to the applicable legal framework. This often requires a restructuring of contracts, a change of user profiles and a redistribution of responsibilities.