The survey has been conducted by Germany's plastic trade association Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK).
In a statement, IK said: "Foreign enterprises are able to calculate with much lower energy costs: at times power costs in France are only half as high; in the US, electricity prices have partially dropped to as little as 5 cents/per kilowatt hour – the German plastics packaging producers are currently paying a high price to maintain their competitiveness."
Background
According to IK, the costs for the increase of the EEG [German renewable energy law] allocation this year alone are in the six-digit range for medium-sized companies. It said that "this money is missing, for example, for urgently needed investments".
Industry experts assume that the price spiral will continue to turn up next year. The EEG-allocation may then go up to above 7 cent/per kilowatt hour.
The EEG was set up by the German government to promote renewable energy mainly by stipulating feed-in tariffs that grid operators must pay for renewable energy fed into the power grid.
According to media reports, German household power is among the most expensive in Europe, due to fees passed on to enable payments of above-market prices to producers of green power.
'Mad costs'
IK managing director Ulf Kelterborn said: "The current concept of the energy policy turnaround with its mad costs for industry and consumers that have run out of control must be stopped at once.
"Else, a number of medium-sized businesses will be unable to maintain their production in Germany. Already, larger companies are thinking about leaving."
IK, together with many other organisations of the small business sector, has long been demanding a market-economy-alignment of energy production.
Elsewhere, IK added: "Only working competition permits innovations and therefore reasonable cost structures.
"Current developments on the international energy markets, such as the cost-efficient natural gas production by fracking in the USA or in England, show that the current German concept of the turnaround of energy policy will fail the international comparison of power prices.
"This also strongly endangers Germany as an industry location."
