With its decision of December 2025, the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has specified the methodology for the efficiency comparison of electricity distribution system operators. The objective is to establish a transparent and comparable cost basis for determining fair revenue caps for the upcoming regulatory period.

From the next efficiency comparison onward, a major change will take effect: redispatch costs will, for the first time, become part of the benchmark cost base. While they were considered permanently non-controllable until the third regulatory period – and in the fourth regulatory period remained volatile but not yet relevant for efficiency scoring – they will now directly influence the efficiency value and thus the revenue cap.

This gives redispatch costs a double efficiency effect:
As volatile costs, they remain eligible for balancing but are now also subject to efficiency assessment. At the same time, by being included in the cost base of the efficiency comparison, they increase efficiency pressure within the benchmark.

Why this is critical:
Redispatch measures are unavoidable for many network operators, particularly in regions with high renewable energy feed-in. Although the Federal Network Agency sees the new regulation as an incentive to avoid redispatch, the costs are in reality distributed very unevenly across regions – resulting in unequal efficiency effects.

If all network operators were affected to the same degree, the relative comparison would be unproblematic. In practice, however, operators in highly impacted regions systematically come under efficiency pressure. Without structural adjustments, efficiency values risk reflecting regional grid realities more than actual operational performance. Redispatch thus becomes more than an operational tool; it becomes an element of network strategy assessment.

What happens next?
The Federal Network Agency will further specify the methodology for harmonizing redispatch costs in a separate determination. Until then, it remains unclear how to strike a fair balance between efficiency, investment incentives, and system responsibility.

E-Bridge supports network operators in evaluating and strategically managing redispatch costs to ensure that efficiency comparisons, investment decisions, and grid realities align. Please feel free to contact us: Steffen Boche, Gregory Cautaerts