Abstract
AbstractThe Federal Republic of Germany and the United States (US) have adopted different models for energy federalism. Germany allocates more authority to the federal government and the US relies on a decentralized cooperative federalism model that preserves key roles for state actors. This article explores and compares the relevance of federal legal structures for renewable energy expansion in both countries. It sets out the constitutional, statutory, and factual foundations in both Germany and the US, and explores the legal and empirical dimensions of renewable energy expansion at the federal and state levels. The article concludes by drawing several comparative lessons about the significance of federal structures for energy transition processes.
Highlights
The United States (US) and Germany are both constitutional nation-states with long, centuries-old federal traditions.[1]
Germany allocates more authority to the federal government and the US relies on a decentralized cooperative federalism model that preserves key roles for state actors
The law allows utilities and independent power companies to submit bids to construct new solar facilities and ensures that the utility does not exert undue market power over the auction process. This approach provides a mechanism to achieve the public policy goal of increased investment in utility-scale solar energy, allows rate payers to benefit if independent companies can meet the goal at a lower cost than the utility, and does not otherwise interfere with the traditional monopoly model for electric utilities
Summary
Just as the Constitution assigned far-reaching legislative authority in the energy sector to the federal level, the core legislation of RE expansion was enacted as federal legislation. In absolute quantity of installed wind energy capacity the leading states (as of 2017) are located in the north, northwest and northeast of Germany – namely, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westfalia, and Saxony-Anhalt (Figure 1). Wind zone II (‘typical inland sites’) and wind zone I (‘low profile wind energy sites’) make up most German territory, in the German south and southwest (Hesse, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg).[66] All else being equal, wind energy investments are more lucrative in the German north and northeast than in other parts of Germany This ‘natural advantage’ explains the leading role of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-West Pomarania, and Brandenburg in wind energy. 64 The advantage of the north in RE expansion leads to another characteristic of German energy transition: the significant need for new electricity transportation capacity, in the north-south direction In the first four bidding procedures for wind energy conducted by the BNetzA in 2017 and 2018 the share of EEG-supported wind energy installations from northern Germany increased to about 90%, while the share of the south dropped to about 10%.74
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