In his last post, Craig Morris discussed two market failures and argued that energy corporations need to assume more responsibility for risk in the energy transition. Today, he adds two more market failures and says small investors can shoulder more of the burden, but only if they have more information. Various organizations, especially those whose bottom lines are suffering from the renewable competition, are now calling for an end to feed-in tariffs and priority renewable grid access. But rather than throw these ideas out altogether, I’d say a middle ground is possible – and worth pursuing. Feed-in tariffs are sometimes misrepresented in English as “guaranteeing profits.” In fact, investors bear the usual risks. If a wind turbine breaks, if your solar roof is installed in the shade, or if there is simply not much wind or sunlight this year, you may post losses. Nonetheless, renewables now make up roughly a quarter of German electricity supply, and most of those investments have been made by citizens, municipalities, and small businesses. As renewables lobby group BEE has argued, some … Continue reading Reforming the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) – An end to feed-in tariffs?