The long wait is over. The National Council passed the adapted version of the Federal Energy Efficiency Act on 01.06.2023. The new version of the EEffG initially failed to achieve a two-thirds majority, which is why it had to be passed as a simple law. The amendment has adopted large parts of the failed original bill.
The purpose of the law is to reduce the energy consumption of state institutions, large companies and energy companies and thus counteract the climate crisis.
No obligations for countries
The two-thirds majority initially required has been dropped. The amendment now lacks individual provisions that would have directly affected the individual federal states. This means that only guideline values are set for the federal states and no directly binding energy efficiency measures are ordered.
Obligations for large companies
Companies with at least 250 full-time employees or a turnover of over 50 million and a balance sheet total of over 43 million will be obliged to do so in future, energy audits carry out or to introduce and maintain a recognized management system.
In Austria, around 2000 companies are affected. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not (yet) covered by the law. However, they can voluntarily implement energy management measures.
Compliance with the minimum requirements is documented every four years in a standardized summary report.
The report contains information on the energy consumption of all energy sources and their waste heat potential, information on the main factors of energy consumption and the main areas of consumption as well as information on measures to improve energy efficiency. The annual savings potential of the measure in kWh must also be demonstrated.
The report also contains information on investment costs and annual energy cost savings as well as information on energy efficiency measures over the last 4 years.
Changes for energy supply companies
The amendment marks the end of the supply obligation of energy supply companies. Instead, there is an obligation to set up advice centers for households. Advice must be offered free of charge by telephone and during normal business hours. Companies that have supplied more than 35 GWh to households in Austria must provide additional advice centers on energy consumption, savings, costs and price trends. Information on ways to save energy must also be made available on the company’s website.
The company faces an administrative fine of up to EUR 50,000 for failing to comply with these obligations.
The savings targets
The energy efficiency targets were made mandatory in the amendment. One of the targets is a final energy consumption of only 920 petajoules in a standard energy year in 2030. Prior to this, the target was to achieve a final energy consumption of 1050 petajoules by 2020.
Combating energy poverty
In future, a coordination office is also to be set up to bring together coordination between different authorities, energy supply companies, local authorities and social institutions in order to combat energy poverty in the Energy Fund.
New regulations for heating meters
Requirements for the installation of individual meters for heating, cooling and hot water in new and existing homes have been updated. However, existing buildings can be exempted from this measure if there are technical or economic reasons for not doing so. Exact exceptions have yet to be determined by E-Control.
In addition, heat meters or cost allocators should be remotely readable wherever possible and existing buildings should also be retrofitted by 2027 if this is technically and economically feasible.
Sources:
https://industriemagazin.at/energie/bundes-energieeffizienzgesetz-was-die-industrie-wissen-sollte/#blockid-4318187https://positionen.wienenergie.at/blog/energieeffizienzgesetz-beschlossen/