GERMANY Might Troubled Utilities Refuse to Pay Cleanup Bills?

摘要

Might German utilities, battered as they are by an influx of renewables with grid-priority status and a tight 2022 nuclear phaseout schedule, prove willing — and able — to wiggle out of their costly nuclear decommissioning and final fuel storage obligations, leaving the government stuck with a big bill? And is there something the German government could — and should — do to prevent that? A legal opinion recently solicited by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy concludes that German taxpayers are indeed at risk on the decommissioning front and lays out moves the government could take to lessen that risk, including setting up an “external fund” to hold money to cover long-term storage costs.