Source: MTG Wirtschaftskanzlei, 07 June 2022
With the aim of a noticeable financial relief of electricity consumers, the German Bundestag has abolished the EEG levy with the resolution of the EEG levy relief law on 28 April 2022.
In the future, it is planned to transfer the regulations on the EEG levy completely into the Energy Surcharge Act (EnUG) and to finance the EEG levy from the year 2023 completely from the special fund "Energy and Climate Fund". With the EEG levy relief law is to be raised now however the EEG levy at short notice already starting from 1 July 2022 no more
This short term change during the year places above all all current-supplying enterprises in addition, all EEG levy debtors before numerous conversion questions. The BDEW has published an application guide to the "EEG Surcharge Relief Act" (available at Public BDEW Application Guide to the "EEG Surcharge Relief Act | BDEW ).
Effects on electricity supply relationships
To ensure that this intra-year relief also reaches end consumers, the EEG Surcharge Relief Act provides for some consequential amendments to the EnWG that directly affect existing contractual relationships between energy suppliers and electricity consumers. For example, from July 1, 2022, suppliers are obliged to pass on the reduction in the EEG surcharge in full to their customers. This obligation does not apply to new customer contracts from July 1, 2022; in this case, it is assumed that the reduction in the EEG surcharge was already known and taken into account in the price agreement. At the same time, there is a prohibition of a simultaneous price change elsewhere on July 1, 2022. This is intended to ensure transparent and direct relief for end consumers.
The provisions of the EEG Surcharge Relief Act differentiate between various types of contracts and the different price adjustment options contained therein:
Basic supply contracts (§ 118 para. 37 EnWG):
- legal obligation to reduce electricity prices by 3.723 cents/kWh from the effective date of July 1, 2022
- no separate customer letter required
- no public announcement required under StromGVV
- but: publication on the website of the basic supplier necessary
Special customer contracts with price adjustment clauses (§ 118 para. 38 EnWG):
- legal obligation to reduce electricity prices by 3.723 cents/kWh from the cut-off date of July 1, 2022
- no deadline-bound price adjustment letter required
Special customer contracts without unilateral price adjustment right (§ 118 para 39 EnWG):
- legal obligation to reduce electricity prices by 3.723 cents/kWh from the cut-off date of 1. July 2022 only for contracts concluded before February 23, 2022
- no separate customer letter required
To ensure the simplest possible processing, the reduction of the EEG levy can be passed on to the end consumers as a pass-through item without requiring a separate customer letter. This price change does not trigger any special right of termination on the part of the customer. BDEW recommends that the amount saved be stated in euros in the next electricity bill. According to the explanatory memorandum to the EEG Surcharge Relief Act, this is particularly relevant in cases where the savings from the elimination of the EEG surcharge as of July 1, 2022 must be evident from the next invoice in the case of constant monthly installment payments.
To keep the personnel and economic effort within limits, the majority of electricity suppliers will probably not make an automatic adjustment of the monthly deductions during the year, but will only show the reduction of the EEG levy from July 1, 2022 as part of the year-end billing.
A separate interim billing on July 1, 2022 is not required, but a pro rata temporis billing is possible in this case. The time-proportionate accrual of the consumption quantities can take place in the way of the consumption estimation, if no meter readings are present to the cut-off date of the price reduction. In this way, a calculated accrual of consumption can be carried out according to the relevant empirical values, taking into account the seasonal fluctuations in consumption, provided that no concrete meter reading is available on the cut-off date or no meter reading has been provided by the customer. In practice, some electricity suppliers offer their customers the opportunity to voluntarily read meter readings at the cut-off date and transmit the values.
Effects on the EEG levy collection
The previously applicable regulations for the collection of the EEG levy (§§ 60 ff EEG 2021) will not be retroactively affected by the statutory abolition of the EEG levy on July 1, 2022. Thus, EEG levy payers are fully obligated to pay the EEG levy to the responsible grid operator or transmission system operator for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2022. The obligation to pay the EEG surcharge will only cease to apply without replacement as of July 1, 2022. Against this background, it is necessary to differentiate between the electricity quantities subject to the levy and those not subject to the levy as of July 1, 2022. If RLM metering or intelligent metering systems are used, the required metering data will be available as of the reporting date. If metering data is collected by conventional metering devices, it is possible to request the EEG apportionment debtor to read the data himself or to carry out a calculated accrual in accordance with the EnWG. Alternatively, in the absence of metering data, the grid operator or transmission system operator can also make an estimate. In this case the BDEW recommends to fall back to the time-proportional allocation regulated in § 12 exp. 2 StromGVV in the case of fee changes.
As far as meters and measuring devices are necessary only for the collection of EEG-allocation-obligatory electricity quantities you become redundant starting from 1 July 2022. It should be examined however before a removal of counters and measuring facilities exactly whether these do not remain necessary for other e.g. EEG or fiscal reasons. The electricity quantities subject to EEG apportionment no longer have to be recorded or reported from July 1, 2022. The obligation to report for the so-called basic information according to §§ 74 para. 1 and § 74a para. 1 EEG 2021 will also cease to apply. However the omission of the reporting obligations refers expressly only to the period 1 July to 31 December 2022. Any reporting offences temporally before this period were committed still release the appropriate legal sanctions.
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