Enlarge image
Gas meter in a basement: Less consumption.
Photo: Christoph Hardt / Future Image / IMAGO
Showering, heating, cooking: Many consumers find it difficult to save on gas.
Despite this, people in Germany used significantly less gas in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year.
Nationwide, consumption between January and May was around 460 billion kilowatt hours of gas, as reported by the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).
That was 14.3 percent less than in the first five months of last year.
In addition to the mild weather in spring, the high gas prices are also a major reason for this, it said.
Because even adjusted for temperature effects, the decline compared to the previous year was still almost 6.5 percent according to the association.
"The decline in May was particularly clear: Consumption here was more than a third lower than in May 2021," the BDEW said.
»Appeals to save energy or personally motivated savings effects play a role.«
In view of the drastically reduced gas supplies from Russia, the federal government has also called on private consumers to save energy in order to get through the winter.
The "Wirtschaftsweise" Veronika Grimm even called for the introduction of bonuses for consumers who use gas sparingly.
One "should urgently advertise premiums for households that drastically reduce their gas consumption in the coming winter," Grimm told the "Rheinische Post".
mic/dpa
