German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler Tuesday said he is in favor of a quick reform of the country's renewable energies law, in order to contain spiraling costs.
German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler Tuesday said he is in favor of a quick reform of the country's renewable energies law, in order to contain spiraling costs.

"We need to address the renewable energies law before the end of this legislative period" in the fall of 2013, said Roesler, speaking at an energy conference in Munich .

The comments come amid fears that the rapid expansion of renewable energies--and solar energy in particular--will cause a considerably power price spike next year. Last year, Germany accelerated its shift toward renewable energies and away from nuclear and fossil energy following the reactor accidents in Japan 's Fukushima power plant.

Roesler--who is also leader of the Free Democrats, the junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government--said that the rapid expansion of renewable energies is increasingly becoming a driver of power prices, which is causing additional costs for private households and businesses.

Germany subsidizes the expansion of renewable energies by guaranteeing fixed prices for the electricity these facilities produce. The subsidies are paid via retail power prices, which means that electricity consumers are paying for the promotion of "green" energy technologies through a renewable energies apportionment.

Consumer website Check24 said it expects German households to pay around 2.9 billion euros ($3.6 billion) more next year than this year to support the expansion of renewables.

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