"Greeen" Energy Expense explained: "everything on the ice cream menu"

There are a number of posts on the excellent German Energy blog regarding the energy policies of parties participating in the German election campaign - the parties just aren't providing much substance (basically arguing on ways to cut energy taxes to hide real cost increases for a little while).

So to der Spiegel ...

High Costs and Errors of German Transition to Renewable Energy - SPIEGEL ONLINE: 

The political world is wedged between the green-energy lobby, masquerading as saviors of the world, and the established electric utilities, with their dire warnings of chaotic supply problems and job losses.
Even well-informed citizens can no longer keep track of all the additional costs being imposed on them. According to government sources, the surcharge to finance the power grids will increase by 0.2 to 0.4 cents per kilowatt hour next year. On top of that, consumers pay a host of taxes, surcharges and fees that would make any consumer's head spin.
Former Environment Minister Jürgen Tritten of the Green Party once claimed that switching Germany to renewable energy wasn't going to cost citizens more than one scoop of ice cream" 

Interesting to see Herr Tritten's name in the article

Minister Altmaier - picture from Spiegel Online

Ontario's Minister of Energy championing the Green Energy Act, George Smitherman, famously claimed, "about 1% per year of additional rate increase associated with the bill’s implementation over the next 15 years."

Sounds like a scoop of ice cream, and it sounds like a calculation done as a canned sales pitch instead of one with any validity.


Herr Tritten was given space on the sheets of Ontario's most widely circulated "newspaper", days prior to 2011's provincial election, in order to urge support for the Liberal Party of Ontario.

Perhaps the thugs at Elections Ontario, so diligent in pursuing Wind Concerns Ontario, should do something about the LPO's propaganda arm running German political campaigns intent on determining the composition of Ontario's government.

The Spiegel Online article continues:

Today his successor Altmaier admits consumers are paying enough to "eat everything on the ice cream menu."

Sweet on Sweden:

Also from the article:

On Thursday, a government-sanctioned commission plans to submit a special report called "Competition in Times of the Energy Transition." The report is sharply critical, arguing that Germany's current system actually rewards the most inefficient plants, doesn't contribute to protecting the climate, jeopardizes the energy supply and puts the poor at a disadvantage.

The experts propose changing the system to resemble a model long successful in Sweden.

Sweden is suddenly in with more than a German report.(Spain is out)

Obama: 'We can learn' from Sweden on energy, climate innovations | The Hill

Sweden could serve as a model for the United States as a nation that fosters energy innovation while simultaneously combating climate change, President Obama said Wednesday in Stockholm....

“Sweden is obviously an extraordinary leader when it comes to tackling climate change and increasing energy efficiency, and developing new technologies. And the goal of achieving a carbon-neutral economy is remarkable, and Sweden is well on its way. We deeply respect and admire that and think we can learn from it,” Obama said.

I'm not fluent in German or American President, but I think the translation is "Sweden is a role model - Sweden has a carbon tax."

Which would be more inspiring, or worrisome - depending on your own position - if Spain's energy policies weren't the last ones broadly cited as worthy of emulation.