The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies

Cludius, Johanna; Förster, Hannah; Hünecke, Katja; Loreck, Charlotte; Schumacher, Katja; Kenkmann, Tanja; Beznoska, Hannah; Schlomann, Barbara

Publication type:	Conference paper
Type of review:	Peer review (abstract)
Title:	The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies
Authors:	Cludius, Johanna Förster, Hannah Hünecke, Katja Loreck, Charlotte Schumacher, Katja Kenkmann, Tanja Beznoska, Hannah Schlomann, Barbara
Proceedings:	eceee 2015 Summer Study on energy efficiency: First fuel now
Page(s):	383
Pages to:	396
Conference details:	ECEEE 2015 Summer Study «First fuel now» Toulon/Hyères, France, 1-6 June 2015
Issue Date:	2015
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	ECEEE
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Stockholm
ISBN:	978-91-980482-7-8 978-91-980482-6-1
ISSN:	2001-7960 1653-7025
Language:	English
Subjects:	Cost benefit; Savings target; Household; Energy end-use efficiency
Subject (DDC):	320: Politics 333.79: Energy
Abstract:	We explore historical trends of household electricity prices and consumption in Germany and show that, whilst prices have risen, consumption has largely remained stable in the last 16 years, indicating that the average household was not able to compensate higher prices by reducing the amount of electricity consumed. Data from the German Income and Expenditure Survey (EVS) is applied to the EEG surcharge to show its effect on different household types. We show that those groups with the largest consumption of electricity often face the smallest relative burden due to the EEG surcharge, as they can compensate with their relatively large income. Groups with little discretionary income, such as low-income households, the unemployed and single parents face the highest relative burden, although the amounts they consume are not large in absolute terms. In light of our findings, we review the provisions relating to energy expenditures in the German social security system. We then go on to examine the main energy efficiency policies that are implemented and planned in Germany relating to buildings and electricity consumption/appliances. Results indicate that those policies do have the potential to reduce the burden imposed by the EEG surcharge. Furthermore, the combined effect of the EEG surcharge and those policies turns out to be nearly proportional. On the one hand, this shows that energy efficiency measures are not only relevant climate and energy policy instruments, but can also serve distributional goals. On the other hand, we highlight that the result regarding their positive distributional effects only holds if indeed these measures are taken up also by low-income households. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the beneficiaries of energy efficiency measures in the evaluation of these policies and if necessary design more targeted approaches.
URI:	https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/ https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/14241
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Regulation and Competition (IRW)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Cludius, J., Förster, H., Hünecke, K., Loreck, C., Schumacher, K., Kenkmann, T., Beznoska, H., & Schlomann, B. (2015). The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies [Conference paper]. Eceee 2015 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency: First Fuel Now, 383–396. https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/

Cludius, J. et al. (2015) ‘The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies’, in eceee 2015 Summer Study on energy efficiency: First fuel now. Stockholm: ECEEE, pp. 383–396. Available at: https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/.

J. Cludius et al., “The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies,” in eceee 2015 Summer Study on energy efficiency: First fuel now, 2015, pp. 383–396. [Online]. Available: https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/

CLUDIUS, Johanna, Hannah FÖRSTER, Katja HÜNECKE, Charlotte LORECK, Katja SCHUMACHER, Tanja KENKMANN, Hannah BEZNOSKA und Barbara SCHLOMANN, 2015. The distribution of renewable energy policy cost amongst households in Germany – and the role of energy efficiency policies. In: eceee 2015 Summer Study on energy efficiency: First fuel now [online]. Conference paper. Stockholm: ECEEE. 2015. S. 383–396. ISBN 978-91-980482-7-8. Verfügbar unter: https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/

Cludius, Johanna, Hannah Förster, Katja Hünecke, Charlotte Loreck, Katja Schumacher, Tanja Kenkmann, Hannah Beznoska, and Barbara Schlomann. 2015. “The Distribution of Renewable Energy Policy Cost amongst Households in Germany – and the Role of Energy Efficiency Policies.” Conference paper. In Eceee 2015 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency: First Fuel Now, 383–96. Stockholm: ECEEE. https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/.

Cludius, Johanna, et al. “The Distribution of Renewable Energy Policy Cost amongst Households in Germany – and the Role of Energy Efficiency Policies.” Eceee 2015 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency: First Fuel Now, ECEEE, 2015, pp. 383–96, https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2015/2-energy-efficiency-policies-8211-how-do-we-get-it-right/the-distribution-of-renewable-energy-policy-cost-amongst-households-in-germany-8211-and-the-role-of-energy-efficiency-policies/.