Energy crisis: the federal government is planning relief – which consumers are now facing
Created: 07/25/2022, 16:33
By: Stella Henrich
With the government's entry into the gas importer Uniper, it could become more expensive for gas customers.
The traffic light is therefore planning to relieve the burden on citizens.
Munich - When they read that the state is getting involved with Uniper and is helping the gas importer with 15 billion euros, many consumers in Germany will have asked themselves: What does that mean for me?
Declared goal: The government wants to prevent the collapse of the energy supply in winter.
breathe easy
After all, sitting in cold apartments and taking a cold shower is something that very few people want to do during the frosty winter months.
Of course, the consumer does not get this “convenience” for free – everything has a price.
And so, according to
welt.de
, all households will share in the costs of the gas crisis for the first time.
The plan is for importers to pass on 90 percent of the higher procurement costs to consumers via a levy.
Energy crisis: Increase in prices by two cents per kilowatt hour
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has now spoken out in favor of a levy on October 1st, possibly also on September 1st.
This could lead to an increase in gas prices of two cents per kilowatt hour.
"Depending on how big the household is, this will certainly be noticeable," said the SPD politician.
According to calculations by
welt.de
, for a family in a small single-family house with gas heating and an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, the surcharge means an increase in heating costs from currently around 135 euros per month to just under 170 euros.
In other words: 35 euros more per month.
The sample calculation is based on a long-term final gas price of eight cents per kilowatt hour.
However, it can already be assumed that many energy suppliers will adapt their conditions to the changed market situation and increase the price for a kilowatt hour of natural gas.
Energy crisis: Federal government wants to help tenants in the short term
About half of all apartments in Germany are heated with gas.
The traffic light government is therefore planning to relieve people with low incomes in particular.
In a key issues paper, which is available in the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
, the SPD parliamentary group proposes five measures to help tenants – and also landlords – in the short term.
A crucial point is that a termination of the rental agreement for apartments should no longer be permitted for the time being if a tenant cannot make the advance payments for the operating costs, reports the
SZ
.
The same should also apply to additional payments, for six months from the settlement.
The regulation should therefore already apply to the 2021 accounting period and also to 2022.
Since July 1st, the EEG surcharge has been suspended until the end of the year.
Will this actually make energy costs cheaper for consumers?
© Wolfgang Maria Weber/imago
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As a further measure, the SPD parliamentary group reiterates its demand that defaulting payers should not be allowed to have their electricity or gas cut off.
This affects recipients of state aid, low-income households and pensioners in the country.
In addition, the housing benefit should increase automatically on a regular basis.
So far, this was only planned for 2024.
Here, too, the circle of those entitled is to be expanded.
Almost 640,000 households are currently receiving housing benefit.
In addition, trainees and students should also receive “further relief for the 22/23 heating period”.
Uniper
is the largest German gas importer, with most of its imports coming from Russia.
In addition to trading, the company with around 11,500 employees and headquarters in Düsseldorf also operates gas and coal-fired power plants and gas storage facilities.
It was spun off from Eon Group
in 2016
.
Since then, Uniper has been doing business with fossil energies and hydropower.
According to
Welt.de
, the group generated sales of around 164 billion euros last year, with a loss of 4.1 billion euros.
The largest shareholder is the Finnish state energy company Fortum with 78 percent.
Uniper is considered systemically important due to its key function in the energy supply chain.
The federal government has a 30 percent stake in the gas importer.
Energy crisis: Help also planned for landlords
Landlords can breathe a sigh of relief too: they should not be put in the financial chain with the planned energy relief for tenants.
Should the new regulation lead to “unreasonable hardship” for landlords, they should be granted an interest-free loan to bridge the gap.
In the case of a loan on the corresponding property, it should be possible to defer it.
Meanwhile, the federal state of Bavaria is facing a completely different problem due to the energy crisis.
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