The government is now considering paying firms for each kilowatt-hour saved through energy-saving measures such as low-energy lighting, and offering financial incentives to encourage people to buy efficient equipment for homes and businesses.
The government has ambitious policies for expanding renewable energy, and it also wants to ensure that vulnerable people, pitched into fuel poverty, are protected or provided with energy-saving measures.
"Chancellor Merkel's coalition government has made an important contribution to the economic upswing by introducing investment programmes for energy-saving technologies, and measures to encourage small business investment, " said Gustav Horn, director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
Notwithstanding the shutdown of many nuclear plants, fairly moderate energy-saving and load-shifting measures have been enough to avert severe service interruptions.