On the redistributive effects of Germany's feed-in tariff

The present article assesses the redistributive effects of a key element of German climate change policy, the promotion of renewables in the electricity mix through the provision of a feed-in tariff. The tariff shapes the distribution of households' disposable incomes by charging a levy that is proportional to household electricity consumption, and by financial transfers channeled to households feeding green electricity into the grid. Our study builds on representative household survey data, providing information on various socio demographics, household electricity consumption and ownership of solar facilities. The redistributive effects of the feed-in tariff are evaluated by means of various inequality indices. All the inequality measures indicate that Germany's feed-in tariff is mildly regressive.