Survey: Two-thirds of Germans view government energy policy negatively

The transformation of Germany’s energy sector has long been a prominent issue, with both supporters and opponents. The transition from fossil-fuel and nuclear energy to renewable sources has traditionally enjoyed strong public support there. However, concerns about rising energy prices and the impact on competitiveness are undermining public support, putting pressure on the federal government to ease its push for renewables. Germany is therefore facing a contradictory situation: the public is beginning to worry about the impact of high costs, but at the same time opposes cuts to support for new energy sources.

In recent years, public support in Germany has been shifting, with concerns about economic impacts, high energy prices and competitiveness beginning to outweigh climate priorities. However, the public there is also opposed to plans to limit support for renewable sources or loosen the rules for heating systems.

According to a recent survey by naturstrom, one of the country’s clean energy suppliers, two out of three residents oppose the federal energy policy. More than half of respondents said that recently proposed changes to heating-related legislation were creating greater uncertainty for future planning.

The German government recently decided on a major change, scrapping the requirement for new heating systems to use at least 65% renewable energy. Similarly, more than half of survey participants oppose the government’s plans to potentially end operating support for new small-scale solar power plants. In this case, the government argues that these systems are already generally profitable and are also largely used to cover their owners’ own consumption.

"The federal government is pursuing energy policy without regard for public opinion. Plans to abruptly end subsidies for solar power while simultaneously relaxing requirements for the installation of new gas heating systems send a disastrous signal: this federal government is not taking the energy transition seriously," naturstrom CEO Oliver Hummel said, according to Clean Energy Wire.