Dirk Bannink
(November 27, 1992) Schönau, a small village in the southern Black Forest region of Germany, is taking the new German energy policy seriously and using it to try to break the monopoly of the large energy companies, as well as lower carbon dioxide emissions.
In 1990, the federal government of Germany decided that in the year 2005 carbon dioxide emissions should be cut back to 25% of 1987 figures. But the important, and so far unanswered, question was: "how?". In Schönau, they think they have found one of the answers to that question. Citizens in that village decided to buy the municipality's electricity supply grid.
The supply grid for their region is owned by Kraftübertragungswerke Rheinfelden (KWR). KWR, in turn, is owned by the Swiss Elektrowatt concern, which is also co-owner of the nuclear power stations at Obrigheim (Germany) and Leibstadt (Switzerland). As would be expected, KWR immediately opposed, and even thought it had found a way to sabotage, the villagers' plan.
Officially, the supply contract between Schönau and KWR was supposed to end on 31 December 1994. But the town was told in 1991 that if it did not extend the contract immediately it would face grave financial problems: a probable shortage of DM 23,300 (US$14,900) every year up to 1995. For such a small village (2,500 inhabitants) this is a lot of money. The dream to buy the electricity grid seemed shattered. Fortunately, a group of villagers fought back. They raised the money, DM 100,000 (US$63,700) that the village stood to lose if the contract wasn't immediately extended. After that, the plan became a matter for the Municipal Council. But the council would not agree to postpone the decision on extending the contract n by one vote majority. Meanwhile, KWR had reduced the time span for the new contract it offered from 20 to 14 years. This, at least, was seen as an important breakthrough in company policy n as well as a sign of fear.
Although the vote was another setback for the group taking the initiative to buy, it was not the end of their struggle. At that time, July 1991, there was already nationwide publicity focussed on their plan for buying the region's grid. The issue gained importance because it was the first time the monopoly position of the electricity producing and supply companies had been challenged n a position which is an important factor in the reasons why plans for reducing carbon dioxide emissions fail. To prove the validity of this statement, a brief history of the group which came up with the plan is given below:
Following the Chernobyl catastrophe, a few people in the Schönau area formed a local group called Eltern für Atomfreie Zukunft (Parents for a Nuclear Free Future). Their motto was "Think globally, act locally", and their aims included energy efficiency in the village. Then they noticed that people are punished by the electricity companies if they save electricity, because of the companies' pricing policies (ie, the more electricity you use, the cheaper the price). They also noticed that electricity producing companies give priority to large scale installations (coal or nuclear) instead of small environmentally friendly energy producing systems and sustainable energy.
The group started a discussion on energy rates with politicians, collected money for children affected by Chernobyl, organized meetings on energy policy, and formed an ecological-cabaret group. But their main goal was to become self-sufficient in the electricity field, and, after the KWR supply contract ended in 1994, to buy the grid. To this end, in June 1991, a 400-page report was presented to the Municipal council. In that report, scientists, ecologists and economists made clear, in detail, that the plans to buy the grid were possible and realistic. In fact, Schönau had been the owner of the grid until it was sold to KWR in 1972, when two small local hydropower installations were closed.
After the council's decision to renew the contract with KWR, the group (which was now being called 'Netzkauf' or 'gridpurchase') collected signatures for a plebiscite. Obtaining the necessary signatures went quickly, and on 28 October 1991, the plebiscite was held. Voters were asked to choose between
(a) renewing the supply contact with KWR immediately or
(b) waiting until 31 December 1994 and, in the meantime, try to buy the grid.
The result: 1,316 people voted for the Netzkauf proposal and 726 voted against it. A clear victory, giving Netzkauf three years to raise the money needed to buy the grid (approximately DM 7 million total) and to plan a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy scheme for the village.
News of the Netzkauf victory was met with a threatening stance by KWR, which commented: "We've lost a battle, but not the war". Nevertheless, the Netzkauf supporters remain optimistic and see their struggle as one that can serve as an example for other initiatives. Let's hope it does.
Sources:
- Die Zeit (FRG), 7 June 1991
- Badische Zeitung (FRG), 10 July & 24 Oct. 1991
- Züdkurier (FRG), 29 Oct. 1991
Contacts: Wolf-Dieter Drescher, Felsenstr.11, W-7869 Schönau, FRG; tel: +49 7673 1671.
Dr. med. Michael Sladek, Bifang 2, W-7869 Schönau, FRG; tel: +49 7673 7011.