Energy: Government launches austerity plan

Enlarge image

Turning the heater: heat the workplace to a maximum of 19 degrees

Photo: Fabian Sommer / dpa

There have long been appeals for voluntary energy saving, and now the government wants to step up the pressure with a series of measures.

A regulation to this effect is to come into force in September.

The workplace should be heated to a maximum of 19 degrees, retailers should keep the doors of their shops closed, advertising should not be lit at night, private swimming pools should no longer be heated with electricity or gas, according to the draft regulation.

The measures are to apply for six months – until February 28, 2023.

"Energy saving is a joint task of politicians, companies and consumers," says the draft.

Every kilowatt hour saved helps a little bit out of the dependency on Russian gas supplies.

The following measures are specifically planned:

• Agreements about a certain

  temperature in rented apartments

  "are ineffective".

  However, the tenants are still obliged to heat and ventilate "appropriately" in order to prevent "material damage" such as mold.

• Private indoor and outdoor pools

  may not be heated with gas or electricity from the grid, which is not "essential use".

  Exception: The swimming pool is used for therapeutic applications.

  Pools in hotels, leisure facilities or rehabilitation centers are not affected.

• According to the ordinance, work rooms

  – both in companies and in public buildings – should only be heated up to certain

  maximum

  values

  : For “physically light activities that are mainly carried out while sitting” this is 19 degrees Celsius, for “physically heavy activities” twelve degrees .

• On the corporate side, retail and the advertising industry are particularly affected: It is prohibited to keep

  shop doors

  and entrance systems in retail business premises open at all times, unless it is an emergency exit or escape route.

• Advertising systems

  may not be illuminated from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• In

  public buildings

  , corridors, large halls or technical rooms should no longer be heated - the exceptions are hospitals, care facilities and day-care centers.

  Boilers and instantaneous water heaters should not be used to prepare hot water for washing hands.

• The

  lighting of public buildings

  from the outside “is prohibited”, the draft regulation goes on to say;

  the safety and emergency lighting may be on.

Habeck had announced the Energy Saving Ordinance in mid-August.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it should be decided directly by the Federal Cabinet without the participation of the Bundestag or Bundesrat - according to the "Bild" newspaper on Wednesday next week.

The EU gas emergency plan came into effect in August.

According to this, the member states should save 15 percent of gas from the beginning of August to March next year – compared to the average of the past five years of this period.

How the 27 EU countries do this is up to them.

The German savings target is 20 percent.

In addition to the »short-term energy security ordinance«, the government wants to issue a second ordinance with measures that are to apply in the »medium term«, namely for two years.

It stipulates, for example, that owners are obliged to carry out an annual heating check;

they should also lower the flow temperatures for the hot water supply or heat less at night.

However, the approval of the Bundesrat is required for this ordinance.

Both ordinances together should bring annual savings of 20 terawatt hours of gas, which would be two percent of consumption in Germany, according to the draft ordinance.

This should save more than ten terawatt hours of electricity.

According to this, the many energy-saving regulations should also have a “signal and role model effect” – and trigger further voluntary energy-saving measures.

mmq/AFP