EU orders Germany to recover millions of euros in aid given to big power users

BRUSSELS: EU state aid regulators on Monday ordered Germany to recover millions of euros from a number of large electricity users which enjoyed an unfair advantage after they had been exempted from paying network charges between 2012 to 2013.

The European Commission, in charge of ensuring a level playing field in the 28-country European Union, said the exemption increased the financial burden on other power users who had to pay a special levy introduced in 2012.

The EU competition enforcer said the exemption, which Germany scrapped in 2014, was given to companies which used more than 10 gigawatt hours between 2011 and 2013. The cost for 2012 alone came to 300 million euros ($350 million).