Railway electricity pricing system (Germany)

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The traction current price system (BPS) is DB Energie's system of charges for traction current .

Pay system

The rail energy supplied according to the price system is billed in euros per kilowatt hour used.

A distinction is made between a high tariff (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) of 6.90 cents per kilowatt hour and a low tariff (between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) of 5.80 cents. In addition, network charges, taxes and charges are levied.

Discounts

On July 1, 2014, DB Energie introduced a new price system that includes the abolition of all discounts.

As a percentage discount, there are three combinable discounts :

  • Customers who undertake to purchase at least 50 percent of their planned amount of energy for a minimum of two and a maximum of ten years receive a discount of between two and ten percent. The discount in percent corresponds to the term in years.
  • An additional discount is applied for the purchase of certain energy quantities: If the purchase quantity is at least 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, a one percent discount is granted, from 100 GWh / year two, from 200 GWh three and from 500 GWh four percent.
  • When purchasing at least 2,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, customers also receive a five percent occupancy discount .

The volume discount of a maximum of four percent is only achieved by large railway companies and purchasing groups.

history

From 1997, Deutsche Bahn billed energy purchases separately (regardless of the train path price ). The consumption was initially determined using load profiles (type of train, load, route). As late as 2001, DB Netz alone appeared to rail transport companies to regulate the use of train paths, systems and traction current. The purchase of electrical energy was regulated in individual contracts with the transport companies, sometimes also directly by DB Energie. It was only with the installation of energy meters in the locomotives that an actual consumption-dependent calculation became possible in the first place.

At the beginning of 2003, DB Energie introduced the 2003 traction electricity price system ( BPS 03 ). According to the company, this new regulation of the rail energy supply was due to the changed legal framework of energy and antitrust law. Single-stage mixed prices were charged in euro cents per kilowatt hour, differentiated according to three time zones (high, medium and low tariff), and energy fed back into the grid was remunerated. In addition, discounts were provided for bulk buyers and long-term contracts. According to the company, these were justified by the cost advantages of procurement and provision.

On January 1, 2004, DB Energie introduced the BPS 2004, a revised traction current price system. Full supply customers were given the opportunity to agree fixed prices for one year, the price difference between high and low tariff was reduced, prices changed and the remuneration for fed back energy increased. The increase in the low tariff price from 4.20 ct / kWh to 6.40 ct / kWh and the simultaneous reduction in the high tariff price from 11.70 to 10.50 ct / kWh had no effect on the result for DB Energie. These prices were fixed for the calendar year for an optional surcharge of 0.80 ct per kWh. Returned rail energy was remunerated at 3.30 ct (low tariff), 3.80 ct (medium tariff) and 4.20 ct (high tariff).

According to the price status as of January 1, 2011, a distinction was made according to three tariff levels:

  • The high tariff applicable from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. provides for a fee of 13.20 cents per kWh.
  • The current 9:00 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 22:00 Central tariff is set at 11.45 cents per kWh.
  • The low tariff , which applies from 10:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. , is charged at 10.00 cents per kWh.

Energy fed back was remunerated at 4.80 cents (low tariff), 5.50 cents (medium tariff) or 6.00 cents (high tariff) per kilowatt hour (plus sales and electricity tax).

As of January 1, 2012, prices rose to 10.70, 12.15 and 13.75 cents per kilowatt hour, respectively. The EEG surcharge increases to 1.0 or 0.11 cents per kilowatt hour. The remuneration for fed back energy was raised to 5.85, 6.70 and 7.10 cents per kilowatt hour, respectively. The list prices of the full supply increased between 2005 and 2011 by 20 percent (high tariff) and 39 percent (low tariff).

On March 26, 2012, Deutsche Bahn announced that it would reduce prices with retroactive effect from January 1, 2012 (in the high tariff from 13.75 to 12.50 cents per kWh, in the low tariff from 10.70 to 10.60 cents per kWh) to reduce the number of tariff levels from three to two and to raise the remuneration for energy fed back by more than 20 percent. Furthermore, by 2013 a new traction current price system should be introduced without the previous discounts.

These prices (each excluding sales tax and electricity tax ) include network access , energy delivery and other services. In addition, a surcharge of 0.7 cents or 0.08 cents per kWh (with an approved hardship application according to Sections 40 ff.) Is levied in accordance with Section 37 (1) of the EEG .

The BPS 2014 was introduced on July 1, 2014 . This means that all volume and term discounts have been abolished and fees for network use and energy supply are shown separately. The plans include the BahnstromClassic products , with which customers pre-order a certain amount of energy for a calendar year, and BahnstromComfort , with which railway companies can be supplied even without a supply contract. The system distinguishes between two time zones for energy supply: a high tariff, which applies from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and a low tariff (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). A remuneration is granted for traction current that is charged back. Traction current from other suppliers is to be passed through for a network fee.

Transmission pricing system

On January 1, 2004, the transmission price system ( DPS ) was introduced. 50 Hz electricity, which was fed into the DB Energie network at a defined point, was converted by the company into rail energy and could be accessed at any point in the network. The transmission fee was 5.45 cents per kilowatt hour. According to its own information, the company was the first rail energy company in Europe to offer such a transmission. In the first half of 2005, Rail4Chem obtained traction power from another provider via the DB Energie network for the first time as part of a one-month pilot trial. In November 2010, the Federal Court of Justice obliged DB Energie in the final instance to have the prices for the transmission of energy approved by the Federal Network Agency (in accordance with the Energy Industry Act ).

While the transmission fees per kilowatt hour rose from 5.81 cents (2005) to 6.61 cents (2011), these network fees fell in the general electricity market during this period. So far (as of January 2012) there have been no noteworthy deliveries of electricity by third-party providers to railway companies. On February 29, 2012, the Federal Network Agency approved the network charges for the transmission for the years 2005 to 2008 and set the revenue cap for the years 2009 to 2013. The fee volume has been reduced by 23 percent compared to the application by DB Energie.

Avoided network charges

Remuneration is granted for traction current fed back by the traction vehicles. This is made up of a fee for the fed back energy and a network fee for avoided network use, the so-called avoided network fee . The network charges avoided were introduced in 2006 for all network operators in the Electricity Network Charges Ordinance on the assumption that decentralized feed-in would avoid network expansion . Since this assumption has not been confirmed in practice, the Network Charges Modernization Act is intended to freeze the avoided network charges to the level of December 31, 2015 and gradually abolish them by 2027. The Federal Government has promised to evaluate the specific effects on the competitive situation in rail transport and to compensate for any disadvantages that may arise.

criticism

Critics complained that the BPS 03 had disadvantaged private railways through its discounts. For example, only group-owned companies could have enjoyed major customer discounts. Several private railways lodged a complaint against the BPS 03 with the Federal Cartel Office . Among other things, they cited a disadvantage due to the discount system included, from which (also in 2004 and 2005) only the Group's own railway companies would have benefited. DB Energie emphasized that the price system was created in cooperation with the customer. Also network private railways had been involved.

According to a report in a Deutsche Bahn technology magazine, group-owned companies would have received traction power for 5 cents per kilowatt hour, while private railway companies had to pay 7 cents per kilowatt hour. Critics also complained that the consumption of Deutsche Bahn group companies is estimated, while electricity meters ( TEMA boxes ) for private railways determine the precise consumption. (The TEMA compact box records the energy consumption of a traction vehicle and transmits it by radio to the billing system of DB Energie in Frankfurt am Main. The 15-minute averaged energy consumption is used for billing. (Status: 2003))

Starting in 2003, a private railway company reduced DB Energie's bills by a so-called discrimination discount and brought an action against DB Energie before the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court to determine that it only owed this amount to the company. The discrimination discount exceeded the plaintiff's profit (each based on one year). DB Energie, however, filed a counterclaim and demanded payment of the amounts withheld in 2003 and, in some cases, in 2004. Attempts by the private railway to obtain energy from other providers failed, as did attempts by DB Energie to refuse network access. In the meantime, other private railway companies have also cut their traction electricity bills.

In a judgment of December 15, 2004, the Frankfurt am Main regional court rejected DB Energie's counterclaim in full. Among other things, the court declared the remuneration regulations contained in BPS 03 and 04 to be invalid due to a violation of the antitrust prohibition of discrimination. While Railion , the rail freight subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, holds a market share of 94 percent and was the only one that was able to use it extensively (14% discount), only four competing companies could have made use of the first discount level (1 percent discount, from 50 GWh).

It was also controversial whether the Federal Network Agency had initiated antitrust proceedings against DB Energie at the request of private railways in 2003. While observers saw this fulfilled on the basis of an assigned file number , DB Energie emphasized that the file number only served to record the correspondence.

On July 6, 2005, the same dismissed a suit brought by Deutsche Bahn AG against a private railway company that had withheld a discrimination discount for 2002. Another company then filed a repayment suit in the same court.

DB competitors criticize, among other things, that they are not allowed to conclude contracts with other energy providers and that the regenerated braking energy is not adequately remunerated. A purchasing community of 26 competitors had not succeeded in obtaining the discounts that DB had granted its own subsidiaries. This purchasing group , known as Raileco , expects a joint purchase volume of around 1,000 GWh in 2011 and can only organize half of the purchase volume that is required to take advantage of the occupancy discount. The five percent occupancy discount (from an annual purchase volume of 2000 GWh) can only be used by Deutsche Bahn AG companies. All the transport companies competing with Deutsche Bahn AG, on the other hand, only achieve a purchase quantity of 1,200 GWh.

The Federal Network Agency demands (as of December 2011) additional skills in order to be able to ensure more competition. If the authority has so far only been able to intervene in the event of a specific suspicion of abuse, it is necessary for an effective control to gain insight into documents that are necessary for checking the conditions of use, regardless of specific incidents.

Under current law, the product price is not subject to rail or energy regulation.

European Commission investigation

On March 31, 2011, Deutsche Bahn offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and Mainz were searched. The search was based on the suspicion that DB had charged its own group subsidiaries lower energy prices than its competitors. The EU Commission suspects abuse of a dominant market position . Several complaints from competitors are considered to be the trigger. During the searches, documents were found that indicated further antitrust violations.

In mid-2012 the European Commission initiated antitrust proceedings against Deutsche Bahn AG and several of its subsidiaries on suspicion of dishonest business conduct. The competition watchdog is investigating whether DB Energie GmbH has disadvantaged transport companies that are not part of the DB Group through higher prices.

In mid-August 2013, Deutsche Bahn announced that it would change the traction current price system in order to avert antitrust proceedings by the EU Commission. The offer of DB also provides, among other things, to abolish volume and term discounts and to grant railway companies not belonging to the DB Group a discount of four percent on their last annual accounts. Other electricity providers should also have access to the traction power network. After the offer, other market participants have one month to comment. On December 18, 2013, the EU Commission announced that it would accept the commitments offered by DB regarding traction current pricing. Among other things, these provide for the abolition of discounts to offer all railway companies (EVU) the same conditions and to enable electricity providers not belonging to the DB Group to offer traction power from July 1, 2014. RUs outside the group will be reimbursed four percent of their traction electricity bill for 2013. The commitments are initially limited to five years and are to be monitored with the help of a trustee to be paid by the company. From 2015 onwards, this trustee and the commission must be informed in detail of the business figures for the previous year. Any change in delivery prices for traction current must also be explained to the Commission in writing one month before it comes into force.

With these concessions, antitrust proceedings were averted.

The Court of the European Union dismissed lawsuits filed by several Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries against the searches against the European Commission in a judgment dated September 6, 2013.

Other pricing systems

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k DB Netz (publisher): Railway electricity price regulation from 01.01.2011 . Four page document. Annex 4 to the framework electricity supply contract.
  2. ↑ Traction current price regulation from 01.01.2019 for the fallback supply. (PDF) In: dbenergie.de. DB Energie, October 30, 2018, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
  3. ^ Bahn 2015: Is competition policy off track? (PDF; 1.3 MB) In: Special report 69th Monopolies Commission, July 2015, accessed on June 29, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f German Bundestag (ed.): Activity report 2010 of the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railways for the railways sector in accordance with Section 14b of the General Railway Act and statement by the Federal Government (PDF; 1.5 MB) . Printed matter 17/8525 of January 30, 2012, pp. 25-26.
  5. ↑ a b c d e DB Energie GmbH and the opening of the traction current network for competitors . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 10/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 462.
  6. ↑ Holger Fröhlich, Hans-Jürgen Kühlwetter : Liberalization of the electricity market also in the area of ​​energy supply for electric locomotives on the DB AG network? . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 3/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 133-135.
  7. ↑ a b c Joachim Essig, Anne Zajusch: transmission pricing system of DB energy . In: Elektro Bahnen , Issue 1/2, 2004, pp. 65–67.
  8. ↑ a b DB Energie opens 16.7 Hz traction power supply network . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 1/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 10 f.
  9. ↑ DB Netz (publisher) : Railway electricity price regulation from January 1, 2012 (as of October 14, 2011) .
  10. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG (Ed.): DB Energie lowers electricity prices by around 4 percent . Press release from March 26, 2012.
  11. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG (Ed.): New traction current price system comes on July 1, 2014 ( Memento of March 31, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). Press release of April 3, 2014.
  12. ↑ Report Rail4Chem is getting third-party electricity for the first time . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/2005, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 306.
  13. ↑ a b Federal Network Agency (ed.): Federal Network Agency approves network charges and revenue caps for the traction current network for DB Energie GmbH . Press release from February 29, 2012.
  14. ^ Draft of a law to modernize the network charge structure Bundestag printed paper 18/11528 of March 15, 2017. pdf, 1.17 MB
  15. ↑ a b Roman J. Brauner: Appeal judgment in the train path price dispute - or "On eternal defeat" . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 6/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 278 f.
  16. ^ A b c d e Roman J. Brauner: traction current pricing systems illegal . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 3/2005, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 144 f.
  17. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Kühlwetter: News from "Lummerland" . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 10/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 463.
  18. ↑ Report DB electricity prices illegal . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 10/2005, p. 451.
  19. ↑ a b Thomas Ludwig, Eberhard Krummheuer: EU buttons itself the web . In: Handelsblatt . No. 65, 1./2. April 2011, ISSN  0017-7296 , p. 24 f.
  20. ↑ mofair eV (Ed.): Competitor Report Railway 1010/2011 . Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-034680-4 ( Online [PDF; 20.3 MB ; accessed on September 27, 2019]).
  21. ^ Daniela Kuhr: Network agency wedges against Deutsche Bahn . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 29, 2011, p. 17.
  22. ^ A b Thomas Ludwig: Suspicion of cartels: EU investigates against the railway . In: Handelsblatt . No. 113, 2012, ISSN  0017-7296 , p. 5 (similar version) online .
  23. ↑ a b EU cartel dispute: Deutsche Bahn suffers defeat in court . In: Focus Online . September 6, 2013, ISSN  0943-7576 ( online ).
  24. ↑ Bahn wants to avoid antitrust proceedings . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . August 16, 2013, ISSN  0174-4909 , p. 13 .
  25. ↑ a b DB avoids cartel proceedings . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 2 , 2014, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 103 .
  26. ↑ JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Fourth Chamber): “Competition - Administrative procedure - Decision ordering an investigation - The Commission's powers of investigation - Rights of the defense - Proportionality - Duty to state reasons” . Judgment of September 6, 2013.