Green energy – Paying enough to “eat everything on the ice cream menu”

“Electricity is becoming a luxury good in Germany.”

German consumers already pay the highest electricity prices in Europe. But because the government is failing to get the costs of its new energy policy under control, rising prices are already on the horizon.

German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier’s predecessor once claimed that switching Germany to renewable energy wasn’t going to cost citizens more than one scoop of ice cream. Today Altmaier admits consumers are paying enough to “eat everything on the ice cream menu.”

The government predicts that the renewable energy surcharge added to every consumer’s electricity bill will increase by 20 percent.

Paying Big for Nothing

This year, German consumers will be forced to pay €20 billion ($26 billion) for electricity from solar, wind and biogas plants — electricity with a market price of just over €3 billion. Even the figure of €20 billion is disputable if you include all the unintended costs and collateral damage associated with the project.

Solar panels and wind turbines at times generate huge amounts of electricity, and sometimes none at all. Depending on the weather and the time of day, the country can face absurd states of energy surplus or deficit.

If there is too much power coming from the grid, wind turbines have to be shut down. Nevertheless, consumers are still paying for the “phantom electricity” the turbines are theoretically generating.

Occasionally, Germany has to pay fees to dump already subsidized green energy, creating what experts refer to as “negative electricity prices.”

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high-costs-and-errors-of-german-transition-to-renewable-energy-a-920288.html

Photo gallery:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-the-costs-of-green-energy-fotostrecke-101006.html

German green party plummets in poll before election

It was an astounding result.

In April of 2011, a political survey found that fully 28 percent of German voters supported the Green Party.

And now?

With the vote two-and-a-half weeks away, the picture is not nearly as rosy. A poll released Thursday found that just 10 percent of Germans – just 1 in 10 – intend to vote for the Greens on Sept. 22. It is the lowest survey result for the once popular party since way back in 2009.

Hey, U.S. politicians. You’d better take notice. First Australia. Now Germany?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-green-party-plummets-in-poll-before-election-a-920818.html

Thanks to Robert van deLeur for these links