Auswirkungen der Entlastungsregelungen von Energiesteuern und - abgaben auf die deutsche Industrie

This 2011 report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the impact of energy tax exemptions and levy reductions on the German industrial sector. It examines how various policy instruments—including the Ecological Tax Reform, the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), the Combined Heat and Power Act (KWKG), and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS)—create a 'politically determined component' of energy prices that varies significantly based on company size and industry sector.

• Industrial consumers in Germany can receive substantial reductions in the politically determined component of their energy prices. For electricity, taxes and levies totaling 56 Euro/MWh for normal consumers can be reduced by up to 96% for manufacturing companies. For heating fuels, reductions can reach 33% for oil, 62% for natural gas, and 55% for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
• Energy price relief is strongly correlated with company size and energy consumption. Companies with an annual energy consumption exceeding 600 GWh pay, on average, 45% less for the politically determined energy price component than companies consuming only 1 MWh. For those eligible for all exemptions, the cost can be up to 75% lower than for companies with no claims to relief.
• The impact of energy price increases varies by industry based on their energy mix. Sectors with a high proportion of electricity, such as vehicle construction and basic chemicals, experience higher politically determined price increases than sectors relying primarily on fossil fuels, such as metal production and the processing of stone and earth.
• The complexity of the relief system, which uses diverse indicators such as non-wage labor costs, electricity costs, turnover, gross value added, carbon costs, and trade intensity, makes determining final energy prices difficult and complicates political debate.
• Significant tax and levy exemptions may undermine the intended goal of improving energy efficiency by reducing the financial incentive for manufacturing companies to optimize their energy use.
• Publicly available data, such as the International Energy Agency's (IEA) "Energy Prices and Taxes" publication, often fail to reflect the full extent of exemptions available to German industry. This may lead potential investors to overestimate energy costs in Germany, potentially undermining the goal of maintaining international competitiveness.
• In 2010, the total value of exemptions from energy taxes and levies amounted to 7.1 billion Euro, with 4.4 billion Euro specifically granted as electricity and energy tax relief for the manufacturing sector.

APA

Rosenberg, A., Schopp, A., Neuhoff, K., & Vasa, A. (2011). Auswirkungen der Entlastungsregelungen von Energiesteuern und - abgaben auf die deutsche Industrie. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reductions-and-Exemptions-on-Energy-Taxes-German.pdf

Chicago

Rosenberg, Anja, Anne Schopp, Karsten Neuhoff, and Alexander Vasa. Auswirkungen der Entlastungsregelungen von Energiesteuern und - abgaben auf die deutsche Industrie. Climate Policy Initiative, 2011. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reductions-and-Exemptions-on-Energy-Taxes-German.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Anja |last2=Schopp |first2=Anne |last3=Neuhoff |first3=Karsten |last4=Vasa |first4=Alexander |title=Auswirkungen der Entlastungsregelungen von Energiesteuern und - abgaben auf die deutsche Industrie |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=24 November 2011 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reductions-and-Exemptions-on-Energy-Taxes-German.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rosenberg2011auswirkungen, author = {Rosenberg, Anja and Schopp, Anne and Neuhoff, Karsten and Vasa, Alexander}, title = {{Auswirkungen der Entlastungsregelungen von Energiesteuern und - abgaben auf die deutsche Industrie}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reductions-and-Exemptions-on-Energy-Taxes-German.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }