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One thing is clear: Germans were fooled and deceived by politicians and activists into thinking that the transition to renewable energies would not cost much, reduce pollutants, create a clean environment, improve the climate and create many jobs.

None of these have come true.

Electricity prices have skyrocketed, the landscape is being industrialized and Germany has not reduced its greenhouse gases in more than 7 years. Moreover the climate is still the same. Now Germany’s industrial base is eroding.

Today we will look at the first point: cost. Yesterday the online industry journal Deutsche Mittelstand Nachrichten (Midsize Company News) here carried the headline:

“Association of Energy: Electricity Prices To Rise Significantly”

So the bad news continue, and this will further adversely impact consumers, small businesses and the all-important Mittelstand.

And because the Mittelstand employ some 70% of all workers in Germany, most of them highly skilled and well-paid, the news is bad. The Mittelstand is already facing crisis on a number of fronts. First is the lack of skilled workers on the labor market. Second: many of these companies are now being handed down to the next generation, but there are no successors. In fact Chinese companies have been busily snapping up the companies along with their patents and technical expertise.

Now, thirdly, comes the extreme energy prices (and volatile supply) – thanks to Germany’s mad and poorly thought-out rush into utopian green energies.

Rising feed-in costs

The main factor driving the higher prices remains the EEG green energy feed-in act, the site reports. Association head Christian Otto told German daily Bild that the feed-in subsidy will rise to 7 cents per kwh (currently 6.88 cents).

Three of the four power transmission grid operators have already announced an increase in the grid fees.”

The four German grid operators are Amprion, TransnetBW, Tennet and 50Hertz. Only East Germany-based 50Hertz does not plan to raise the fees for the time being.

Uncompetitive

The higher feed-in surcharges make push German electricity prices to 30 cents a kwh, almost three times more expensive than power in the USA, for example. Little wonder that some are now calling to “make Germany great again”.

Moreover, citing analysts, the site reports that heating oil as well has become 11 percent more expensive, and warns more increases lie ahead as winter approaches.

Grid instability adding to costs

The Deutsche Mittelstand Nachrichten site cited the head of the BDEW energy association, Stefan Kapferer, who blasted the “constantly more frequent and expensive interventions that are needed to keep the grid stable due to the fluctuating feed-in of renewable energies“.