Posted on 10/15/2013 7:12:52 AM PDT by Lorianne
Consumer advocates and aid organizations say the breaking point has already been reached. Today, more than 300,000 households a year are seeing their power shut off because of unpaid bills. Caritas and other charity groups call it "energy poverty."
Lawmakers, on the other hand, have largely ignored the phenomenon. In the concluding legislative period, the government and opposition argued passionately over a €5 increase in payments to the long-term unemployed. But no one paid much attention to the fact that those welfare recipients would subsequently see the extra €5 wiped out by higher electricity bills.
It is only gradually becoming apparent how the renewable energy subsidies redistribute money from the poor to the more affluent, like when someone living in small rental apartment subsidizes a homeowner's roof-mounted solar panels through his electricity bill. The SPD, which sees itself as the party of the working class, long ignored this regressive aspect of the system. The Greens, the party of higher earners, continue to do so.
Germany's renewable energy policy is particularly unfair with respect to the economy. About 2,300 businesses have managed to largely exempt themselves from the green energy surcharge by claiming, often with little justification, that they face tough international competition. Companies with less lobbying power, however, are required to pay the surcharge.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
And such a small penalty for this victory - only 300,000 people need to go without electricity.
Unintended consequences?
Or perhaps this was intended all along.
In the end, what actually drives up costs would remain unaffected: the haphazard expansion of wind and solar energy.
This is not the first time the Germans have made a huge strategic blunder. The irony is that air quality will suffer as people will burn just about anything to keep warm and eat. Reliable cheap electricity is essential for a healthy environment and to alleviate miserable poverty. “Green energy” will never power a modern industrial society. Political environmentalists are green socialists and are guilty of crimes against humanity. These hairbrained schemes are more than nuisance in Germany but are causing death and disease in the third world.
BKMK for later
I’ve asked greenie weenies to forego all of their personal items made with petroleum. As it turns out, they don’t know what those items are! It’s a lovely educational experience for them. I’ve also asked them what type of containers we should switch to for water, medical, and food rescue supplies to the poor. I’m racist of course.
Wind farms chop up over 500,000 birds every year.
300,000 people per year!
Always remember, that one is a liberal when one realizes that he/she has no discernible ability to create wealth or value, but still believes that they are smart enough to tell others what to do.
And science, my friends, is most definitely not a friend of liberals.
Hopefully, we’ll know their hiding places after CW-II and we will also know what to do with them.
Remember - they don’t give a smelly Obama about you, so please do the same to them when their time for justice comes.
Of course. Pretty soon every German can contribute to saving the planet. At least for a few seconds.
Don’t blame solar energy for poor energy policies. Just sayin.
The sun works and works well. Every single day. Socialism not PV
Is the problem.
here are mini-ice ages and then there are political ice ages..
sadly EUrope is already suffering one and about to have another one re-visit.
not to worry, the EU officials are all nice and cozy in their chalets
I understand that the article is about poor people who are struggling to pay for electricity, which is increasing in price. But the title might be falsely construed to mean that Germany, itself, is poor in energy. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth: Germany is rich in energy resources, is actually a net exporter of electricity, and makes extensive use of renewables - chief among them, wind and solar (the latter is highly subsidized). But because it lacks sufficient electricity storage capacity (e.g., pump storage facilities), during peak electricity production (such as the midday hours on sunny days), it is forced to sell (for nearly nothing) the excess electricity to, e.g., Austria and Switzerland - countries with plenty of storage facilities which then frequently sell back electricity to Germany in the early morning or late evening.
Germany's problem is simply that the increasing solar/wind capacity cannot replace a single conventional power plant, because those conventional power plants are needed to ensure baseline delivery on windless / cloudy days, and because it lacks sufficient electricity storage capacity.
Unfortunately, all of those private citizens who installed photoelectric modules on their roofs in recent times were promised artificially high prices for the electricity they deliver - for the next 20 years.
Regards,
They are all East Berliners now. Ha, ha!
Perhaps if it hurts their ears, they will swim away when construction starts, Zigfried.
The underwater structures of the windmills are going to attract fish which will bring in the porpoises.
I suspect that the porpoises won’t be all that bothered by the man made noise as opposed to doing without some easy fishing.
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