The AgNes Network Tariff Reform: New Power Pricing from 2029

What AgNes is and why the reform is coming

AgNes fundamentally restructures German power network charges. The Allgemeine Netzentgeltsystematik Strom replaces the expiring StromNEV from 1 January 2029. The background is the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union C-718/18, since when the Bundesnetzagentur sets the network charges in its own competence. The responsible body is the Grosse Beschlusskammer Energie under the reference GBK-25-01-1#3, not Ruling Chamber 8.

Behind the reform stands a clear legal trigger. Since the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union C-718/18 of 2 September 2021, the Bundesnetzagentur sets the network charges by determination in its own competence, rather than through an ordinance of the federal government. For that reason the StromNEV power network charges ordinance expires on 31 December 2028 and is replaced by AgNes. The determination procedure is run by the Grosse Beschlusskammer Energie under the reference GBK-25-01-1#3, and proceedings were opened on 12 May 2025. In substance the reform addresses three points: the uneven regional distribution of network charges, the growing need for flexibility in the grid and the so far missing cost-reflective contribution from feeders. The chamber published the full draft ruling on 6 August 2026, and comments were due by 18 September 2026. The Bundesnetzagentur says it still intends to adopt the ruling in calendar year 2026.

Who pays for the grid in future

The biggest break lies in who bears the network costs. So far it is mainly consumers who pay, in future generators, storage and electrolysers are also to contribute. In addition, cost allocation is reorganised around net grid consumption. The figures come from the draft ruling of 6 August 2026.

In detail, AgNes shifts the distribution of network costs on two levels. First, who pays at all changes: so far it is mainly households and large consumers who bear the network charges, from 2029 generators and feeders, storage and electrolysers are for the first time also to make a contribution, for example through a capacity price. Under the draft, generation plants above 30 kW pay a feed-in charge on their contractually agreed feed-in capacity, which the transmission system operators set nationwide each year and publish by 15 October for the following year; grid-coupled storage and electrolysers producing green or low-carbon hydrogen pay a capacity price of the same amount. The draft's sample calculation arrives at 5.14 euro per kW and year as the rolling average for 2022 to 2026. Second, the logic of cost allocation between grid operators changes: in future the costs are allocated by net grid consumption rather than by the volume of electricity transported. This means the distribution follows more closely the actual draw from the respective grid, which is intended to rebalance the regional burden. That is how operative point 5 of the draft puts it; consumption covered by self-generation does not count towards the allocation key.

The main reform building blocks

The reform rebuilds the price components. The draft of 6 August 2026 draws the line at 100,000 kWh of annual offtake at low voltage: below it a standing charge and an energy charge, above it and at all higher levels a capacity price. Feeders above 30 kW pay a charge of their own.

At low voltage up to 100,000 kWh a standing charge and an energy charge remain, with the standing charge to carry 20 to 40 percent of the revenue from this customer group. Anyone generating behind the connection pays a prosumer surcharge of 70 to 90 percent of the standing charge, plug-in solar devices excepted, and from 1 April 2028 suppliers must show prosumer status on the bill. Above that threshold, final customers pay a capacity price per kW on their booked capacity and two energy prices: AP1 for volumes within the booked capacity and AP2, at 200 to 350 percent of AP1, for everything above it. The baseload privilege under § 19 StromNEV is phased out as a result; for final customers with a valid agreement on 31 December 2028 it still applies until the end of 2031. Generation plants commissioned before the ruling is notified (1 January 2027 under the draft), or with a final investment decision by then and commissioning by 4 August 2029, pay the feed-in charge only 20 years after commissioning; the investment decision has to be proven to the network operator by 31 March 2027. The draft provides dynamic network charges only for storage (not before 2030, at the latest 2033) and generation (not before 2032, at the latest 2035), not for final customers for now; time-variable charges under Section 14a EnWG (module 3) are unaffected. For distribution system operators the work therefore starts in master data: by 1 April 2028 they have to identify every offtake point with generation behind the connection and report it to the supplier (operative point 17.8), the first of the AgNes deadlines in the draft. For energy-intensive large consumers this network charge burden overlaps with the industrial electricity price, which caps only the procurement price, not the network costs.

AgNes, Section 14a and tariffs: the distinction

The topics are easily mixed up but sit on different levels. AgNes governs the system of network charges, Section 14a the discounts for controllable consumers, tariff models the end-customer tariffs, and untouched by all of it the annual duty to publish the 2027 network charges by 15 October 2026 runs on. Whoever separates them plans the projects correctly. The handbook chapter on dynamic tariffs and grid charges puts all three levels side by side, from the dynamic tariff through the § 14a modules to AgNes.

For practice this means: AgNes governs the overarching system of power network charges from 2029, that is how the network costs are structured, allocated and distributed across the contributors. Section 14a EnWG, by contrast, governs reduced network charges for controllable consumption devices and is therefore a discount rule on the end-customer side, which is explored in the innobu article on the control box and Section 14a. The end-customer tariffs in turn, such as dynamic tariffs in the controllable electricity market, are covered by the innobu article on tariff models 2026. AgNes is the regulation of the network charges themselves, not the end-customer tariff. The shared legal trigger with the GasNZV replacement is the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union C-718/18.

Challenges and risks

The reform redistributes burdens and is correspondingly contested. Several associations reject core proposals, and the ongoing process creates planning uncertainty. An honest view has to name this, rather than painting the reform only as an orderly modernisation.

In detail the risks lie on several levels. First, there are winners and losers: prosumers, generators and storage tend to be burdened more, while flexible consumers tend to be relieved. Second, the association criticism is broad. VKU, BDEW, BDI and BEE reject core points, above all the feed-in charges, because they see additional investment risks for renewable facilities and storage, even if the envisaged legacy protection is partly acknowledged as confidence protection. Third, the ongoing procedure creates planning and investment uncertainty as long as figures and design are interim positions. Fourth, a concrete IT and billing adaptation is added, because capacity prices, the booked capacity and the new allocation have to be represented in the systems. A balanced view therefore recognises both the goal of a more cost-reflective distribution and the real burdens and open points.

What companies should do now

AgNes is a regulatory and strategy task with a hard deadline in 2029. Whoever now calculates their own exposure and submits a position helps shape the open design. This turns an abstract reform into a concrete plan.

1. Check the framework ruling against the draft

   The deadline for comments on the draft closed on 18 September 2026. The Bundesnetzagentur intends to publish the comments received, minus trade secrets, and to adopt the ruling in 2026. Compare the adopted version point by point with the draft, above all on the feed-in charge, legacy protection and the dynamic component. What can still be shaped after that are the follow-up rulings in 2027, most effectively through the associations.

2. Quantify your own exposure

   Calculate your own load and generation profiles against the discussed models. Only once the capacity price, the booked capacity and the new allocation are applied to your own profiles does it become visible whether the company tends to be burdened or relieved. This calculation is the basis for every position and every investment decision.

3. Check the legacy and exemption rules

   Check the legacy and exemption rules for storage, electrolysis and generation, such as the grid-fee exemption for battery storage and its window to 2029. The legacy protection in the draft (20 years from commissioning, investment decision to be proven by 31 March 2027) co-determines how strongly existing facilities are affected by the new charges. Whoever knows the rules early avoids false assumptions in ongoing and planned projects.

4. Prepare IT and billing

   Prepare IT and billing for the capacity price, the booked capacity and the new allocation. The change to the network charge systematics feeds directly into the billing systems, because new price components and a changed allocation logic have to be represented. Whoever plans the adaptation early avoids time pressure at the 2029 deadline.

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