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By amending the Energy Industry Act, the Federal Ministry of Economics wants to give electricity providers the opportunity to temporarily take large consumers such as electric cars and heat pumps off the grid remotely.

This emerges from the draft law of the Federal Ministry of Economics, which WELT AM SONNTAG is present.

Paragraph 14a regulates what is known as “peak smoothing”, in which “controllable consumer devices”, which should include electric car charging stations and heat pumps, cannot receive electricity for up to two hours per day if the network would otherwise be overloaded.

The auto industry expresses sharp criticism of the ministry's plans: "What is called tip smoothing unfortunately means switching off for customers," said Hildegard Müller, President of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at WELT AM SONNTAG.

"If that happens, it would be very bad for all e-car owners and the companies that are now bringing e-cars onto the market."

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The Ministry of Economic Affairs presented a "unilateral proposal in favor of the energy industry", which endangers the acceptance of electric cars.

"If the law is passed in this way, it will throw Germany back on the path to climate-neutral mobility." The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV) also criticized the draft law, saying it had to be improved.

However, the draft is welcomed by the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW).

"The tip smoothing is the result of a long, expert-supported process in the Federal Ministry of Economics," said BDEW boss Kerstin Andreae according to the report.

"Alternatives were also discussed, but we are convinced that tip smoothing is the most suitable instrument to ensure network stability."

Costs should be pushed

The energy association wants to keep the costs of network expansion low.

"It is inefficient to expand the grids in such a way that the last kilowatt hour can be delivered even at peak times, if a small time shift in consumption is possible without sacrificing convenience for the customer," argued Andreae.

"It is clear that we must and will continue to expand our networks."

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There are currently "different approaches and discussion proposals" on how to maintain the stability of the electricity grid, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

"There is currently no final decision as to which approach can best be used to achieve the goal."

In government circles it was said that the draft could be revised again.

Peak smoothing will probably remain in law, but the definition of which consumers can be switched off could be changed.

Electric cars and heat pumps could be taken out.

You can read the entire research in WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: WELT AM SONNTAG