How the Electricity Feed-In Law (Stromeinspeisungsgesetz) Came to Be Passed by the German Parliament, Enabling Renewable Energies to Establish Their Position in the Market - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 481

time when the managing directors and top lawyers of the electrical
utilities in the West were busy trying to seize possession of (i.e.,
privatise) the former East German electricity sector.
In 1990, with the legislative period drawing to a close and
pressure mounting, the German government cooperated with the
big energy companies in an attempt to destabilise the initiative
behind the Feed-In Law.
At our first meeting at the Ministry of Economic Afairs in
Bonn in May 1990, we—the wind energy, solar energy and bio
energy “cranks”—found ourselves at the long negotiating table
face to face with the united forces of the energy supply industry.
Behind them stretched a huge photograph of an open cast lignite
mine, which occupied the entire wall. Seated on the left were
officials of the Ministry of Economic Afairs and on the right
members of parliament and representatives of the hydroelectric
power sector.
At that memorable meeting we were informed that
negotiations about the future of the Feed-In Law would only be
continued if Manfred Lüttke, the representative for the hydroelectric
power industry in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg,
packed his bags and left. Immediately, Erich Haye, Dr Ivo Dahne
and I have made it quite clear that, if this was the case, we were
going to get up and go too. Amidst the euphoria that accompanied
German reunification, with its high ideal of “living at peace and
in freedom” at last, neither the energy supply industry nor the
German government—who, following a parliamentary resolution,
were meant to present a legislative proposal before parliament—
could have allowed themselves to push things too far. This would
only have caused antagonism ahead of the celebrations with “our
brothers and sisters in the East”. Moreover, the energy supply
industry in the West was completely tied up with its endeavours
to appropriate the East German energy supply industry, which
involved the scandalous “GDR power supply agreements”, the
wording of which has still not been disclosed to this day. In any
case, the representatives of the energy supply industry felt
confident that, sooner or later, they would be able to rid them-
selves of the Feed-In Law.
Due to the developments taking place concurrently, only
one alternative remained open to the electrical utilities: They
would either have to eradicate the Feed-In Law or else take
over the entire East German electricity sector. After all, there