Around 50 percent of German industrial electricity demand is purchased by companies under the so-called band load regulation: This regulation, laid down in the Electricity Grid Charges Ordinance for large industrial consumers (Section 19 (2) sentence 2 StromNEV), effectively forces companies to purchase electricity at a constant rate throughout the year. As this increases electricity system costs and makes flexible consumption more difficult, the Federal Network Agency now wants to reform the regulation.

A new impulse paper from Agora Energiewende and Agora Industrie proposes a regulation that removes barriers to more flexible consumption and links grid fee reductions to system benefits.

Specifically, around 400 companies with a total electricity consumption of around 90 terawatt hours per year are covered by the band load regulation. This provides for significant reductions in grid fees from a consistent electricity consumption of 7,000 hours per year. Although this may be advantageous for individual companies, it places a burden on the electricity system as a whole and causes additional costs. The Agora paper proposes gradually linking the current advantages for large consumers to more flexible purchasing.

In addition, a reform of Section 17 (2) StromNEV should strengthen energy prices compared to fixed demand prices. This approach reduces the risk of companies having to pay significantly higher grid fees because they increase their load at times when electricity is cheaply available.