The Federal Cartel Office has criticized the lack of competition in public charging stations for electric cars. Many municipalities have allocated space predominantly or even exclusively to their own municipal utility or individual providers. “As a result, consumers have little choice and the risk of higher charging electricity prices increases,” criticizes the President of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt.

The price differences at the charging stations could indicate abusively excessive prices in certain areas. In many local markets there are very few providers of charging power. “The concentration there is so high that market dominant positions are emerging,” said Mundt when presenting the final report on the marketing of public charging infrastructure. “Competition in the supply of charging current does not work properly in many places.” This “could actually have been avoided through better framework conditions for the allocation of space.”

Strong market providers often not only sell their own electricity, but also charge drivers who buy electricity from a service provider using a charging card. However, the operator of the charging station sets the price. Locally dominant operators could set the price for competitors so high that they are forced out of the market, the competition watchdogs explain.

Praise for the allocation of motorway parking spaces

Particularly at the municipal level, there is often no discriminatory allocation of public land. On the motorways, the federal government has significantly improved the conditions for open market access for charging stations at the simple rest areas by tendering federally owned areas as part of the so-called “Germany network”. In the case of managed rest areas, however, parking spaces should remain with the Tank & Rast group in particular. There is also a risk here that powerful market positions will emerge.

However, from today’s perspective, the conditions for the Cartel Office to intervene are not met. Individual price increases do not yet allow the conclusion that charging electricity prices in Germany are systematically and across the board excessive. The operators would have to cover their investment costs; the utilization of the columns is sometimes very low. Interventions in pricing could inhibit the expansion of the charging network. The competition watchdogs warn that government measures for more price transparency would inevitably also benefit providers: they could coordinate their prices. A temporary allocation of public land would be helpful.