Low Voltage Connection Ordinance: Is the Government Blocking?

D as word low voltage connection regulation Couldn't be more bureaucratic, but it's tough. In brief, this ordinance regulates, among other things, what influence the electricity grid operators have on the approval of new charging stations for electric cars.

With the ordinance that was drafted by the federal government and waved through by the Federal Council, there is still none secured entitlement to the installation of a charging station, be it a public charging station or a private wallbox on the garage wall.

Network operators decide on new installations

The current draft of the Low Voltage Connection Ordinance provides that the network operator must agree to the planned new charging point. It is also planned that the network operator can permanently prove the use of the charging point with conditions such as load management with a significant reduction in charging power. When and how the network operator informs the customer about the future performance of his network connection, however, the regulation does not adequately regulate.

Jaguar

The wallbox of private individuals must also be approved by the network operator

Robert Busch, Managing Director of the Federal Association of the New Energy Industry, exercises the regulation clear criticism. 'The current draft leaves the network operators too much leeway to decide whether and when the charging infrastructure is to be set up,' says Busch. “The planned approval requirement for the network connection of charging devices undermines the network operator's obligation to expand. On the one hand, the network operator will be able to delay the network expansion. On the other hand, there is a risk that the network operator will exploit its monopoly position. Because he or his associated sales department also builds charging devices and could therefore connect charging devicesof competitors unnecessarily and thus gain an unlawful competitive advantage. '

That this assessment is entirely justified is shown by the similar case of broadband expansion in Germany, where Telekom is also only slowing down the foam compared to competitors Access to the telecommunications infrastructure is made possible.

The future scenario for the new installation of a charging point accordingly looks like this: The customer must first register the construction project, then wait up to two months for the network operator's approval and can only then place the order for the installation of the system. If the network operator does not answer, the customer has no way of requesting feedback.