German utilities face tough 2017 as power rally looks set to stall

Dusseldorf

GERMAN utilities from RWE AG to EON SE may struggle to convince investors they can adapt to the renewable energy revolution even after the industry's unprecedented shakeup in 2016.

Headwinds range from a power price rally that's forecast to fade this year to a multi billion-euro nuclear clean-up bill. While planned spending curbs and thousands of job cuts are seen as necessary by some investors and analysts, the utilities are operating in an environment RWE's chief executive officer Rolf Martin Schmitz has described as "tough".

Last year left its mark on Germany's utilities as the landmark shift from nuclear and fossil-fuel generation spurred Europe's biggest IPO since 2011, a company spinoff and the largest single sale of lignite plants. EON shares fell …