"German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered today on one of the key issues in last year’s elections: the runaway costs associated with the country’s green energy program. Under these new reforms to the country’s energiewende, subsidies handed out to renewable energy producers will be curtailed, and certain exemptions to electricity surcharges for energy-intensive industries will be revoked. Berlin is still placing a heavy emphasis on renewables to meet its energy needs in the wake of its post-Fukushima nuclear drawdown, but has now placed upper limits on the solar and wind energy it will incentivize.
To be sure, these are crucially important reforms for what has become a disastrous green energy policy. To kick-start renewables, Berlin guaranteed long-term, above-average rates for solar and wind energy producers, and many savvy Germans took advantage. The costs of these so-called feed-in tariffs were passed on to consumers in the form of a green surcharge, resulting in skyrocketing electricity prices for German households and businesses."...
