News

Das LG Wuppertal hat mit Urteil vom 23. Juni 2020 die Klage eines Übertragungsnetzbetreibers auf Zahlung der EEG-Umlage abgewiesen und damit erstmals über die Übergangsregelung der Scheibenpacht nach § 104 Abs. 4 EEG - hier insbesondere zur räumlichen Nähe und zur Betreibereigenschaft - entschieden. Die Voarussetzungen einer Scheibenpacht seien erfüllt, da das Kriterium der tatsächlichen Herrschaft und der eigenverantwortlichen Bestimmung der Arbeitsweise nicht uneingeschränkt übertragen werden könne. Zudem sei der Entscheidung des BFH vom 20.04.2004 zur räumlichen Nähe bei einer Entfernung von 4,5 Kilometern zwischen der Stromerzeugungsanlage und der Verbrauchseinrichtung nicht entgegen. Der BFH habe diese Entfernung von 4,5 Kilometern nicht als Maximalradius erklärt. § 12b Abs. 5 StromStV sei vorliegend nicht bindend. (LG Wuppertal, Urteil vom 23.06.2020 - Az.: 5 O 490/19)

According to § 41 para. 3 S. 1 EnWG, energy suppliers are obliged to inform their customers about contract changes and price increases in a transparent and comprehensible manner. The customer must be given a complete and true picture, so that the customer is put in a position to consider whether he wantsto exercise his special right of termination. Even if not expressly covered by the wording, according to the OLG Cologne, the individual price components according to the general terms and conditions, such as e. g. the price of the goods or services, must be stated in the contract. For example, the EEG levy, grid charges and the electricity tax must be listed and it must be shown on which increase of which component the price adjustment is based. (OLG Cologne, Dec. of 26.06.2020 - Az.: 6 U 304/19)

On 18. 06. 2020 the Bundestag passed the Building Energy Act (GEG) on the energy requirements for buildings (BT Drs. 19/16 716 and BT Drs. 19/20 148). The Federal Council is due to approve on 3. 07. 2020 . The GEG combines the Energy Saving Act with the Energy Saving Ordinance and the Renewable Energy Heat Act and links requirements on energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies. For the future development of urban energy concepts, the innovation clause in § 103 GEG and the neighborhood solution contained in § 107 GEG contain a neighborhood approach, which must be made fruitful for other areas of the energy economy. § 107 GEG clarifies that an efficient and sustainable heat supply of buildings can also be implemented by means of neighbourhood solutions. According to the innovation clause, not every single building has to meet the energy requirements if the balance sheet in the neighborhood is correct.

With its decision of 07. 04. 2020, the BGH has clarified the scope of the transfer entitlement of the new concessionaire vis-à-vis the previous operator of the general supply network pursuant to § 46 para. 2 sentence 2 of the EnWG. According to this, high-voltage and high-pressure pipelines in the municipal area are also part of the local distribution network if the system cannot be disregarded without the new concessionaire no longer being able to fulfill its supply tasks as the former system operator did, and the pipeline system has a more than insignificant role in local supply. The right of transfer is not limited to installations to which customers are directly connected. (BGH, UrtDec. of. 7. April 2020 - Case No.: EnZR 75/18)

In its ruling of January 28, 2020, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) specified the requirements for a complaint of nullity of a concession agreement in the context of the right of the supply network to transfer the rights to the new concessionaire. It must be shown that, given the overall circumstances of the case, it is at least possible that the award of the concession was based on the erroneous tender or the erroneous evaluation of the tenders. The concession contract shall not be considered null and void if the party whose rights have been infringed has had sufficient opportunity to defend its right to a selection decision before the conclusion of the concession contract but has not exercised that right. It must always be checked during the concession procedure whether there is discrimination and a direct complaint must be lodged against it ( BGH, Judgment. v. 28. 01. 2020 - Ref: EnZR 116/18)

In the dispute about the district heating network in Stuttgart, the OLG Stuttgart ruled on 26. On 3 March 2020, the Federal State Capital, as the owner of the land, decided that the district heating network which had been laid on its land did not become the property of the City of Hamburg. Rather, the district heating transport system would remain the fictitious property of the operator EnBW. Nor, in the absence of a corresponding termination clause, does the contract of use concluded between the parties impose any obligation on EnBW to transfer ownership of the district heating network to the Land capital. The court only granted the Stuttgart company's auxiliary request that it, as the owner of the land, could demand the removal of the heat supply facilities after the concession contract had expired.