A new energy law is expected to be passed in Germany after the government and opposition parties agreed to empower a regulator by July in a bid to usher in more competition to the German energy market.
Opposition conservatives of the CDU pushed through a clause that requires operators to report transmission access prices to the regulator, which would be able to object to them within six months.
A proposed incentive regulation system aimed at boosting price transparency and making network operators bring their fees into line with the most efficient grids will only be considered by a future government, a distinct possibility given the early general election due in September.
Under the original plans, utilities with more than 100,000 customers would ring-fence network operations from other business units and the government required reporting of any price rises.
The new regulator will watch over an industry dominated by the “big four” — E.ON , RWE , EnBW and Vattenfall.
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