The European Commission said this week it is moving ahead with a probe of financial breaks given to German industry under the country's green energy law.

European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger and Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia earlier this year had started a preliminary probe of certain aspects of Germany's Renewable Energies Act, or EEG, a key element of Berlin's shift away from nuclear power and toward green energy.

Under the provisions of the law, electricity consumers are required to pay a "eco-levy" on their bills to finance the transition, which this year is being raised from 7.089 to 8.463 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour.

An average household consuming 3,500 kilowatt-hours would face an additional cost of more than $80 per year, including value added tax.

However, energy-intensive industries such as steel, aluminum and chemicals since 2003 have been granted exemptions from the surcharges in the name of international competitiveness.

Industry leaders and the German government have maintained the exemptions are necessary to preserve thousands of jobs, but the commission says they appear to violate EU state-aid rules.

In 2010 an amendment to the EEG significantly lowered the threshold under which a business could qualify for the exemptions from 10 gigawatt hours per year to only 1 gigawatt-hour, thus extending the discounts to hundreds of more businesses.