I'd like to warn you that my blog is also about the electricity price brake. About telling you about an idea in the face of rising energy costs, about how we at allsafe are making our way through the energy crisis.
But my blog is not objective. Because I'm proud. Proud of what we at allsafe, with everyone, have accomplished over the last few years. So what makes me proud, and what's in it for you?

allsafe and the German Sustainability Award

I already knew that this was a big thing, the German Sustainability Award, which was presented for the fifteenth time in Düsseldorf in December 2022. And to land here among the finalists in the "Resources" category and to be invited was an experience (great, but at the same time sobering, how much propaganda was involved).
But then on site I really realized how big this "big thing" really was: Among the guests were Prince Albert II of Monaco, who like Cradle to Cradle inventor Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart received an honorary award. I saw a lot of celebrities at the award ceremony, which was moderated by Eckart von Hirschhausen. Among them was Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who gave the opening speech. And when I was already on my way to Mike & the Mechanics after midnight, who were giving a (really great!) concert there, and I got to talk to Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart on the way to the concert, I proudly realized how far we at allsafe have come in recent years.
And that confirmed my belief that - as peculiar as our path may seem to some in its focus on the blue economy - we should continue on our allsafe path. For example, also with a view to the energy crisis and the energy price cap.

allsafe and the electricity price brake

Of course, the energy crisis is also affecting us, and rising energy costs are a strategic issue for us. And so we too would benefit from the electricity price brake and the electricity price cap that have been set in motion.
But just as we questioned the possibility of short-time work and short-time allowance in 2020: 'Do we need this or will we find a solution to handle this ourselves?", we are now asking ourselves, "Can't we find a way to handle the energy circle on our own so that we don't need the compensation from the electricity price brake and the electricity price cap?"
It is not compatible with our corporate culture that losses are socialized while profits are privatized. That's why we are discussing internally whether we really need this subsidy for our very existence in the energy crisis or whether we can get through the crisis - albeit with bruises - without support. Should we accept the compensation from the electricity price brake?
As is so often the case at allsafe, we are not considering an "either-or" path for the electricity price brake, but a "both-as well" path: We do not reject the compensation from the electricity price brake in principle, we want to use it purposefully to address the causes of the energy crisis at allsafe: if, then we want to use the money to invest in another photovoltaic system.
We had already requested another photovoltaic plant. It was going to be 25 percent more expensive than the system we had installed two years ago. We could absorb this 25 percent a little bit. So the money from the electricity price brake is not used to maximize profits, and as allsafe we are once again a bit more independent of crises (an independence that we have also gained, for example, in the supply chains in recent years).
An additional effect of a photovoltaic system, and this may be an exciting impulse for you, is: If you produce more energy with your system than you consume, you can feed this surplus into the grid and receive a feed-in tariff. This feed-in tariff has also increased in the wake of rising energy prices ...
We would not have become aware of this effect if we had not invested in a photovoltaic system two years ago. Also something that makes me proud: that we don't stand still at allsafe. That we are looking for and also finding our own allsafe way, that we are learning as a company in a way that - I think - makes our world a little better.

Jens Laufer