ZEW Energy Market Barometer: Current Energy Policy Is too Fixated on the Distribution of Energy Cost

The German energy policy is too fixated on the question how households and companies can be relieved from increasing energy costs. Instead, improving cost-efficiency in terms of energy supply and energy use would be a starting point to mitigate growing energy costs and to promote climate protection. These are the findings of the ZEW Energy Market Barometer, a semi-annual survey among some 200 experts from the energy economy conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW).

More than 60 per cent of the experts surveyed for the ZEW Energy Market Barometer consider the energy cost burden on companies to be the current focal point in the German energy policy. Not even one fifth of them, however, favour this setting of priorities. When it comes to the widely discussed energy cost burden on low-income households, the participants of the survey do consider this an important topic, but they believe it is has been too much the focus of the current energy policy debate, too.

Instead of discussing and inventing ever new forms of redistribution to financially support households or companies, as for example the numerous derogations from renewable-energy charges that have been granted, energy policy in Germany should have different priorities. About 40 per cent of the experts are convinced that cost-efficient energy provision, e.g. through a more market-oriented regulation of the power grid and power plant sector, should be receiving more attention. From the experts’ point of view, energy efficiency is an even more important aspect. Some 60 per cent of the participants request that decision-makers in energy policy attach greater importance to measures improving energy efficiency.

According to Andreas Löschel, head of the ZEW Research Department “Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management” and chairman of the expert commission evaluating the German government’s “Energy of the Future” monitoring programme, the experts’ plea for a different prioritisation in the German energy policy deserves closer attention: “If the transition to renewables in Germany, the “Energiewende”, is to be a success, we have to keep the costs low. In this context, increasing energy-efficiency, e.g. in the housing sector and the energy provision sector, is an important factor. Here, improving the promotion of renewables and the market design are the crucial parameters,” says Löschel.

Security of supply has been a non-controversial topic among the experts surveyed for the ZEW Energy Market Barometer. In the current issue, the experts largely agree that security of supply is a major policy goal, which should be at the centre of today’s energy policy.

For more information please contact

Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel, Phone +49 621/1235-200, E-mail loeschel@zew.de

The ZEW Energy Market Barometer

The ZEW Energy Market Barometer is a twice-yearly survey of around 200 experts from academia and industry, including energy supply, trading, and service companies; regional suppliers; as well as electricity and green-power companies. The experts are asked about their expectations regarding short and medium term developments in national and international energy markets. The complete results of the current survey (undertaken in May 2013) will appear in the July/August 2013 edition of ZEWnews.