For a long time, Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) insisted on major leaps in efficiency, but at the latest with the stricter climate targets, the prospect of stagnating electricity demand with massive electrification of cars and heating could no longer be held.
To have poured pure wine here before the election is honorable;
if there is something good for German energy policy, it is honesty in dealing with numbers.
The only difference is that the wind turbines between Emsland and Allgäu do not sprout out of the ground any faster, and even if they did, the networks for transporting the electricity generated are still missing.
At the earliest in the middle and probably more towards the end of the decade, Südlink & Co should be ready, the construction is lagging behind by years.
Of course, that is not the sole responsibility of the outgoing Minister of Economics.
Nevertheless, Altmaier is partly to blame for this.
The same applies to electricity costs: once again at a record high, they threaten to gallop further towards 2030.
Here, too, more honesty is needed when dealing with numbers - and costs.