Bills of several thousand kroner and a more expensive electricity scheme.
This has affected several Danes because their solar panel systems or home wind turbines have produced too much green electricity for the power grid.
Among them is Carsten Haunstrup Møller, whose home wind turbine produced 1.22 kilowatts too much over a period of several years.
- It is the most expensive kilowatt I have ever produced and consumed. The penalty in relation to the violations is completely out of proportion, he says.
Today, the Minister of Taxation must decide at a consultation whether it is fair. Carsten Haunstrup Møller looks forward to getting an answer to that. He believes it is completely unfair.
- We solar panel or wind turbine owners have not had technical knowledge about our systems. We have simply, in good faith, been inspired to become producers of green energy, he says.
Carsten Møller cannot see how he could have avoided the overproduction and the sanctions, and like many of the other owners, he does not have in-depth knowledge of the system's technology. (Photo: © Kristine Kammersgaard)
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Under the tax magnifying glass
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Carsten Møller's wind turbine was otherwise approved to supply to the advantageous scheme. But it was one of those that came under the tax magnifying glass last year when the Danish Tax Agency checked private owners of renewable energy systems and their electricity production.
Just like nearly 2,000 other system owners, it turned out that Carsten Møller had received too large tax rebates.
>
> - It is the most expensive kilowatt I have ever produced and
> consumed. The penalty in relation to the violations is completely
> out of proportion.
>
This triggered a back payment of just over 9,000 kroner and exclusion from the advantageous settlement scheme he was part of. It is a scheme that means the owner only has to pay a very small electricity tax.
- It is really positive that we have now come a step closer, and that the minister is willing to look into it, says Carsten Haunstrup Møller.
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What is the net settlement scheme that system owners are being excluded from?
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- Around 85,000 private solar panel systems and wind turbines were enrolled in a special scheme back in 2010-2012
- Called the *net settlement scheme*, which gave the system owners advantageous tax rebates.
- The scheme has the advantage that you only pay electricity tax on your annual net consumption – that is, the difference between the electricity you use and the electricity you supply to the grid.
- The requirement to be part of this scheme at that time was that the household's system has a total capacity of a maximum of 6 kilowatts.
Also read: Carsten invested in green energy - now he is being punished for it ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/reels/carsten-investerede-i-groen-energi-nu-straffes-han-det )
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A bit provoked
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The sanctions against the system owners made several spokespersons rise from their seats in the Folketing and summon the minister to the consultation.
- I was mildly put provoked when I read about Nils-Jørn from Lemvig ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/nils-joern-fik-stor-regning-overproduktion-af-groen-stroem ), who was charged 10,000 kroner in back payment for producing a little too much green electricity. That is, to put it mildly, very unfair, says Mathilde Hjort Bressum, who is the climate, energy and supply spokesperson for Venstre.
>
> I would like the minister to guarantee that the affected citizens
> are returned to the net settlement scheme from which they were removed.
>
According to her, there should be a de minimis threshold for system owners who have acted in good faith.
- I hope the minister will put himself in the citizens' shoes and that he will start taking an interest in the fact that the state exists for the citizens, and not the other way around.
- I would like the minister to guarantee that the affected citizens are returned to the net settlement scheme from which they were removed, says the Venstre politician.
Mathilde Hjort Bressum finds it unfair that affected system owners are not a party to their own case, and therefore do not have the opportunity to appeal the penalties. (Photo: © Kristine Kammersgaard)
The system owners have exceeded the agreement they were part of - is it not also fair that they are punished for it?
- I cannot see what the owners should have done differently - they have done exactly the right thing, she says.
Also read: Nils-Jørn received a large bill for overproduction of green electricity ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/nils-joern-fik-stor-regning-overproduktion-af-groen-stroem )
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Consultation must provide answers
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DR has tried to get a comment from the Minister of Taxation and Growth, Jakob Engel-Schmidt. He refers to the consultation later today at 9:30 AM.
Carsten Møller is optimistic ahead of the consultation. He hopes the minister can see the unfairness and will return to the starting point, so that he himself can re-enter the old settlement scheme - and he hopes the back payments will be refunded.
But he finds it difficult to see what a solution looks like.
- I don't know what we should do differently, because I cannot guarantee that there won't be overproduction in the future, says Carsten Haunstrup Møller.
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