Energy sharing now has a legal basis across the whole DACH region: in Austria through energy communities for several years, in Switzerland through Local Electricity Communities since January 2026, and in Germany through Section 42c of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) since June 2026. For utilities, the question is no longer whether to offer energy sharing, but which model to start with.
At the exnaton CONFERENCE 2025, Thies Stillahn, Head of Sales DACH at exnaton, set out the models and the regulatory landscape. We summarise his talk, updated to October 2026: the legal framework in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, five concrete implementation models, and the factors that decide whether energy sharing scales.
Negative wholesale prices have become routine in Germany: in 2025 the day-ahead price fell below zero in 573 hours, up from 457 hours in 2024 and 301 in 2023 (ZfK, based on SMARD data). enervis projects around 1,300 hours a year by 2032, even with substantial storage build-out across Europe.
For PV operators in particular, this means falling or zero revenues during periods of high generation. At the same time, the market premium under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is being adjusted and exposed further to market conditions. Three needs emerge that energy sharing brings together:
Energy sharing also combines well with battery storage, e-mobility, tenant electricity and collective building supply, both locally and across regions.
Energy sharing is the collective use of renewable electricity that is generated locally or regionally and distributed to participants via the public grid. Depending on national law, it is implemented as a balancing-group model or a partial-supply model.
The mechanics are similar across all models:
All three countries now have a legal framework, at very different stages: Austria has been scaling for years, Switzerland is in its first year of operation, and Germany is in the middle of roll-out.
Section 42c EnWG entered into force on 22 December 2025, after approval by the Federal Council (FfE). Since 1 June 2026, distribution system operators (DSOs) must enable energy sharing within their balancing zone. The model at a glance:
On the ground, implementation is uneven. In mid-June 2026, several determinations by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) were still pending, including on market communication processes and the grid-access platform under Section 20b EnWG (elektronik-zeit). The slow smart-meter roll-out adds to this. That is exactly why balancing-group models, which work independently of both, deserve a closer look.
Austria shows how energy sharing fits into existing market structures. By our estimates, more than 160,000 metering points participate in energy and citizen energy communities, with smart-meter coverage of up to 95%. Processes run on a standardised basis via the EDA user portal, and around half of all participants join through utility service providers.
Since 1 January 2026, members of a Local Electricity Community (LEG) can exchange self-generated electricity within their municipality via the distribution grid. For electricity sourced within the LEG, the grid-usage tariff drops by 40%, or by 20% where several grid levels are used (EKZ LEG tariff sheet 2026). Participants need a smart meter, and the local supplier provides residual supply.
What Switzerland can learn from Austria’s experience is covered in our article Energy communities in Switzerland: what LEGs can learn from Austria’s EEG model.
Beyond the partial-supply model under Section 42c EnWG, utilities can already offer energy sharing through balancing-group models, without waiting for regulatory determinations or a full smart-meter roll-out.
The utility buys electricity from renewable plants through direct marketing and uses it to supply consumers. Plant operators receive fixed, variable or dynamic remuneration, split between electricity sold to the community and surplus sold to the market or third parties. Consumers pay one price for community electricity and another for residual supply, and all participants sit in a shared (sub-)balancing group.
The utility handles organisation, balancing and supply from a single source. Using standard load profiles, the model can start even without smart meters, as we explain in Energy sharing for everyone: why Germany can’t wait for smart meters.
For companies with several sites, energy sharing is especially attractive: surplus PV from one site is allocated on the balance sheet to another site without its own generation. This raises self-consumption, often cuts costs compared with fixed-price procurement, and enables tariffs with PPAs, tranches and spot components. Cross-company models for regional business clusters are possible too.
The same logic works for municipalities: surplus from one facility, such as the public works, supplies others without generation, such as a swimming pool or kindergarten. Value creation stays within the municipality.
Citizen participation adds financial participation in generation assets to any other model. People who co-invest identify more strongly with the project, and acceptance of new plants rises.
In peer-to-peer models, consumers are matched with specific generators, for example a farm’s PV system in their region. The utility remains the intermediary and handles processing, balancing and supply. Allocation is calculated automatically from 15-minute metering data, and switching generators requires no formal supplier switch.
Six factors decide whether energy sharing moves from pilot to mass-market product:
Austria already meets most of these, which explains its lead. In Germany, factors 1 and 6 are the biggest bottlenecks, and factor 5 is the pragmatic way to start anyway.
With exnatonSHARE, utilities can run any of the five models without replacing their core system. The platform handles community management, quarter-hour allocation, forecasting and end-customer visualisation, and passes billable items to SAP S/4HANA, powercloud or any existing ERP. It covers energy communities under the EAG in Austria, Section 42c EnWG and balancing-group models in Germany, and LEGs under the StromVG in Switzerland.
See every capability in detail on our energy sharing platform for utilities page.
With Section 42c EnWG, the EAG and the StromVG, energy sharing now has a legal basis across the DACH region. The rising number of negative-price hours makes new routes to market essential for plant operators, while regional grid-fee benefits make the offer attractive for consumers.
Utilities in Germany that don’t want to wait for Section 42c to be fully implemented can start today with a balancing-group model and switch later. Those who invest in digital processes now will shape the energy products of the next decade.
Want to launch energy sharing in your supply area? Talk to us and find out which model fits your customers.
