Germany began auctioning off renewable energy projects in 2017, a fundamental shift from its previous policy of feed-in tariffs. Citizen cooperatives can also bid on projects, but are at a competitive disadvantage to corporations, who are now the chief owners bigger projects such as of offshore wind farms.
Energy utilities are responsible for the generation and distribution of energy. In Germany, due to the energy transition, these companies have been undergoing huge changes.
There are reasons to switch to renewable energy and to increase energy conservation, and there are reasons to do so now.
The German nuclear phaseout (in German: Atomausstieg) is the discontinuation of using nuclear power for energy; Germany will shut down its last nuclear power plant in 2022.