FAQ Energy Industry Act - EnWG

1. Offshore grid levy

Why was the offshore liability levy renamed the offshore grid levy?

With regard to the previous offshore liability levy, legal changes will come into force from 01.01.2019. These amendments to the law result from the Grid Fee Modernization Act (NeMoG), which will result in changes to Section 17f EnWG, among other things, which will come into force on 01.01.2019. Among other things, the offshore grid connection costs will be removed from the grid fees and transferred to the offshore grid levy. Due to this "expansion" of the levy, it has been renamed accordingly.

Until now, the offshore liability levy was differentiated according to end consumer groups A, B and C. Will this still apply from 2019?

No. With regard to the previous offshore liability levy, legal changes will come into force from 01.01.2019. These amendments to the law result from the Grid Fee Modernization Act (NeMoG), which among other things results in changes to Section 17f EnWG, which will come into force on 01.01.2019. As a result, the previous privilege regulation with the end consumer groups A, B and C will be abolished and the privilege regulation pursuant to Sections 27 to 27c KWKG will also be introduced for the offshore grid levy instead.

What will change to the previous offshore liability levy from 2019?

With regard to the previous offshore liability levy, legal changes will come into force on 01.01.2019. These amendments to the law result from the Grid Fee Modernization Act (NeMoG), which includes changes to Section 17f EnWG that will come into force on 01.01.2019. According to this, among other things

- the "capping" of the levy at 0.25 ct/kWh will be abolished

- the offshore grid connection costs will be transferred from the grid fees to the offshore grid levy

- the previous privilege regulation with the end consumer groups A, B, C was abolished and instead the above-mentioned privilege regulation pursuant to Sections 27 to 27c KWKG was also introduced for the offshore grid levy.

In addition, the offshore liability levy was renamed the offshore grid levy for the reasons mentioned above.

Why is the offshore grid levy increasing significantly in 2019?

The increase in the offshore grid levy in 2019 compared to 2018 is mainly due to the transfer of grid connection costs to the offshore grid levy (see also question: "What changes will there be to the previous offshore liability levy from 2019?"). Up to and including 2018, the offshore grid connection costs will be refinanced via the grid fees.

Why is the maximum amount of the offshore liability levy of 0.25 ct/kWh exceeded in 2019?

Due to legal changes from 2019 (see also question: "What changes will there be to the previous offshore liability levy from 2019?"), the regulation on "capping" the offshore liability levy valid up to and including 2018 (offshore grid levy from 2019) will no longer apply.

2. § 19 StromNEV levy

Up to now, the § 19 StromNEV levy has been differentiated according to end consumer groups A, B and C. Will this still apply from 2019?

Yes, there will be no changes to the privilege regulation for the Section 19 StromNEV levy for the time being, so the end consumer groups A`, B` and C` will continue to be applied.