Brückenstrompreis: Fehler aus der Vergangenheit fortführen?
Due to Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine and the resulting shortage in natural gas supplies, German energy and electricity prices have risen sharply in recent months. In order to protect Germany as a business location, the Federal Ministry of Economics has proposed a cap on electricity prices for energy-intensive companies. However, from the perspective of researchers at ZEW Mannheim and the University of Mannheim, there is no evidence of a negative impact of electricity prices on the competitiveness of German industrial companies. Empirical studies on the exemption of the full payment of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) surcharge as well as on increasing grid fees show that industrial companies react to electricity prices with their electricity consumption, but not with their employment or turnover. This is also due to the fact that for most industrial companies, the share of energy costs in sales is well below 5 percent and other location factors are more relevant for competitiveness. Capping industrial electricity prices weakens incentives to innovate and save electricity. However, these incentives are urgently needed to achieve the climate targets. While security of supply must be ensured in critical infrastructure, broad subsidization of industrial electricity prices tends to be counterproductive for the transformation to a climate-neutral economy.
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)