KARLSRUHE (dpa-AFX) - During the energy crisis, the federal government had some so-called surplus lots cut off from green electricity producers - the Federal Constitutional Court has now confirmed that this was legal. Constitutional complaints by 22 operators of wind power, photovoltaic and biomass plants against the regulation introduced as part of the electricity price brake were rejected, as the highest German court in Karlsruhe announced.

The aim of the electricity price brake, which has now expired, was to relieve consumers of the burden of high electricity prices in the face of the energy crisis. The excess profits of the operators of green electricity plants were partially capped from December 2022 to June 2023.

The court emphasized that electricity is a commodity that is indispensable for covering existential needs. Consumers had been significantly burdened by the high electricity prices at the time. At the same time, the operators of green electricity plants had been extraordinarily favored.

According to the court, this was a "crisis of quite exceptional dimensions". In this exceptional situation, the redistribution of the surplus profits achieved had created an appropriate balance between the favored electricity producers and the burdened electricity consumers.

Green electricity plants benefited from high gas prices

The aim of the electricity price brake was to relieve consumers of the burden of high electricity prices in the face of the energy crisis. Part of the electricity consumption was offered at a fixed, lower price. To help finance this price brake, some of the so-called surplus profits made by electricity producers at the time were siphoned off. This refers to profits that were significantly higher than the companies' expected profits at the time. The law refers to excess profits.

The reason for this was the extremely high gas prices as a result of the Russian war of aggression. Because gas-fired power plants were often the most expensive power plants on the electricity market and set the price for all other power plants, other types of generation also benefited from the high prices, while their costs remained roughly the same.

No tax or levy

The operators concerned challenged this at the Federal Constitutional Court. They considered the levy to be unconstitutional. Overcoming the energy crisis was the responsibility of the state and therefore had to be financed from tax revenue. If the Karlsruhe Senate had followed this assessment and the law had had to be reversed, the excess profits of around 750 million euros that were siphoned off would have had to be paid back to the operators.

According to the judges in Karlsruhe, the capping "interferes to a considerable extent with the professional freedom of the affected electricity producers". However, the interference is mitigated by the short time limit, for example. In addition, a substantial part of the extraordinary income accrued after the start of the war in Ukraine was not accessed. The interference with freedom of occupation was justified and constitutional.

The Senate went on to explain that the measure was neither a tax nor a non-tax levy. This was because the tapping fees did not generate any revenue for the federal government. Rather, the amounts were "rolled over" to the consumers via the network operators, for example. This was a "redistribution among private individuals"./jml/skf/DP/stk