Düsseldorf (Reuters) - The Federal Network Agency wants to make the regulation of electricity and gas grids faster and less bureaucratic.

The President of the Bonn-based authority, Klaus Müller, presented a key points paper on this on Thursday. He criticized the fact that the regulation of charges had developed into a jungle of regulations comparable to tax law. It should become faster, simpler and less bureaucratic. At the same time, the framework conditions should remain reliable. The grid agency plays a key role in the expansion of the electricity and gas grids. Among other things, it determines the extent to which operators can pass on investments in new or existing plants to consumers.

The background to the plans is a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2021, which called for greater independence for the Federal Network Agency. "We will shape the regulatory framework more ourselves," emphasized the agency's Vice President, Barbie Kornelia Haller, at a press conference. The Federal Network Agency will determine the conditions and methods for access to the networks and the costs nationwide. Concerns in the industry that the network agency would become overpowering were unfounded. "The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and the Federal Court of Justice can review our decisions and I have no doubt that they will do so."

In the coming years, the grids will have to be expanded to the tune of billions of euros as more and more renewable energies such as wind and solar power plants are connected. The authority estimates the costs for the electricity distribution grids alone to be in the low three-digit billion range by 2030. The costs for the transmission grids, which transport electricity over long distances, would be in the mid three-digit billion range. Added to this are the gas grids.

Müller explained that one of the industry's main concerns was to take account of changes in the costs of grid operators more quickly. To this end, the Federal Network Agency is proposing to shorten the regulatory periods from five to three years. However, the agency is also open to other proposals that would make it easier to recognize costs in a timely manner. The proposals would have to be practicable and provide incentives to reduce costs.

"The energy transition is gaining momentum," emphasized Müller. The electricity grids need to be expanded and digitalized more quickly. Natural gas grids could be partially converted for hydrogen. The other part would be decommissioned. All of this would lead to changes in costs. These changes should be adapted more quickly in future. The authority wants to put its proposals up for discussion and is planning a meeting with industry representatives at the beginning of February, among other things. "We want to listen now and then decide on the next steps," said Müller. There should then be certainty for everyone involved by 2026.

(Report by Tom Käckenhoff, edited by Scot W. Stevenson; if you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).