Under Art. 10 of the German Electricity Tax Act and Art. 55 of the German Energy Tax Act, companies in the manufacturing sector can apply for relief from electricity and energy tax, better known as “peak compensation”. This relief option is currently only legally binding until the end of 2022.
Now, in the federal government's package of measures to secure an affordable energy supply and strengthen incomes of September 3, 2022 (“3rd relief package”), the coalition committee has decided that peak compensation should be continued for 2023. A draft law to this effect has now been submitted (Spitzenausgleichsverlängerungsgesetz - SpAVerlG).
Such draft law stipulates that the previously applicable requirement for the German government to determine that a target value for the reduction of energy intensity has been achieved does not apply to the year 2023. The other regulations and requirements (in particular the existence of an energy or environmental management system) are to remain essentially unchanged.
The structuring of the peak compensation from 2024 onwards remains open. The draft legislation indicates that no further extension of the preferential treatment is planned.