Berlin to buy back its grid

A citizens group called Bürger Energie Berlin aims to by the German capital city's distribution grid to facilitate the integration of renewables. Any citizen can purchase shares in the group, which says it will not sell to any of Germany's major power conglomerates.

At present, technicians from Vattenfall have been in charge of power meters in Berlin, but that task may soon be performed by a citizens group, which aims to take over the city's power grid.

Photo: leno 2010/Tom Bearwald

While the United States continues to rely largely on power companies to set up renewable generating capacity, Germans long ago realized that these firms prefer to slow down the switch to renewables – and therefore took matters into their own hands. Now, a citizens group calling itself Bürger Energie Berlin (BEB) has told Berlin's Senate (as the City Council is called in the capital) that it is interested in buying the local power grid. The current contract with Sweden's Vattenfall expires in 2014, and a new contract may be awarded in the next few months.

BEB is currently collecting funds for the purchase of the grid. "All citizens are invited to take part in a community purchase of the power grid in accordance with their financial leeway," BEB announced. "We have already collected more than €1 million," explains Lukas Beckmann, a supervisory board member at BEB. The group expects to need an equity ratio of 40%, with the rest coming from loans. Shares will not only be sold to residents of the German capital, but to anyone willing to invest at least €500. Nonprofits and private companies can also purchase shares. Indeed, power provider Schönau, from a community in southern Germany that got the ball rolling decades ago by purchasing its own local grid, already has a stake in BEB. Regardless of the number of shares purchased, everyone will have a vote in the general assembly to ensure that large investors do not dominate or take over smaller ones. BEB says it is also open to the idea of a partnership with the municipal government and would also work with a grid partner. But BEB says it will not work with any of Germany's Big Four power firms "because they do not share our goals for energy supply."

"We support the integration of renewables in the grid, distributed energy supply, and smart grids," explains BEB board member Cornelia Ziehm. "In particular, smart grids are especially important in switching to renewables," Ziehm adds. "But only those grid operators who are truly committed to this switch will ensure that our current grids are revamped."

If the BEB gets the contract, it says it will devote at least 10% of profits to setting up an energy supply focusing on renewables. The rest will be paid back to shareholders. But even if BEB gets the contract, it is still not clear how much Berlin's grid will cost. The city Senate put the figure at around 400 million euros, but Vattenfall says it is worth around three billion euros. The BEB says the latter figure is completely off the mark and points out that the Swedish power giant purchased the grid in 1997 from Berlin's former municipal power firm Bewag for 1.17 billion euros – including the district heating network and power plants for electricity and heat production. Vattenfall has yet to provide any information about the condition of the grid, but the BEB expects this information to be made available before the contract is awarded. (Sven Ullrich / Craig Morris)