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Do district heating customers also pay the gas surcharge?

2022-08-22T03:01:02.120Z


Gas surcharge: Do you also pay consumers who use district heating? Created: 08/22/2022, 04:49 am By: Stella Henrich From autumn 2022, many people will have to dig deeper into their pockets for the gas surcharge. But who anyway? In fact, not the entire population, but so far apparently "only" all gas customers. Munich – In addition to companies, around 50 percent of all private households in Ge


Gas surcharge: Do you also pay consumers who use district heating?

Created: 08/22/2022, 04:49 am

By: Stella Henrich

From autumn 2022, many people will have to dig deeper into their pockets for the gas surcharge.

But who anyway?

In fact, not the entire population, but so far apparently "only" all gas customers.

Munich – In addition to companies, around 50 percent of all private households in Germany are customers of gas.

Due to the gas surcharge, they have to pay 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour on top of their usual costs.

In view of a heating bill that could be hundreds of euros higher than in previous years, most consumers in this country now understandably want to know: Who actually has to pay the surcharge - and who doesn't?

Apparently, customers who purchase oil, liquid gas or district heating are "still" exempt from the gas surcharge.

Whether fair or not: According to the Energy Balances Working Group, around 14 percent of households heated with

 district heating

last year  - according to the Federal Ministry of Economics, over 46 percent of this comes from gas.

According to

Südwest Presse

(SP), district heating customers have not yet been “covered” by the surcharge.

An answer as to whether this will remain the case is currently being examined by the Federal Ministry of Economics.

District heating: Customers of the Munich Stadtwerke pay more anyway

District heating customers have had to dig deeper into their pockets since the beginning of the year, as the example of Stadtwerke München shows.

"The price for district heating has risen from around 54 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) to almost 119 euros per MWh since the first quarter of 2021 - that's almost 120 percent," explains Mike Winkler.

He is managing director of the Winkler & Co. property management company, which looks after around 4,500 apartments in Munich.

The combined heat and power plant of Stadtwerke München.

Blocks 1 and 3 are fueled with residual waste and are used for district heating production.

© Wolfgang Maria Weber/imago

It is therefore about several hundred to over a thousand euros per household.

"The monthly ancillary heating costs alone are now around 2.30 to 2.50 euros per square meter of living space," says Winkler.

Incidentally, the Stadtwerke justified the price increase with the increased raw material prices on the markets.

Gas levy also for district heating: Customers are already paying more

District heating is considered relatively expensive because the providers of this technology usually have no competitors.

Only the Federal Cartel Office monitors compliance with legal regulations.

Stern.de

calculates an example of the costs of district heating before the start of the energy crisis

: "According to an evaluation by the non-profit consulting company CO2online from 2020, district heating accounts for heating costs of 12.40 euros per square meter and year, natural gas on the other hand with 9. 80 euro. 

Across Germany, the Federal Ministry of Economics states the number of apartments heated by

district heating

at 5.6 million.

This corresponds to a share of around 14 percent.

On the other hand, around 48 percent heat with gas, followed by oil with a good 25 percent.

In this country, district heating is mostly used in urban areas.

According to a report by

Stern magazine

, more than a million households are supplied with district heating  in

Berlin

alone , and

Hamburg

is also  considered a district heating stronghold.

In the Schleswig-Holstein city of

Flensburg

, almost all residential buildings are connected to the district heating network.

District heating expansion: EU Commission approves aid

The promotion of district heating is not only a declared goal in this country to get away from fossil fuels.

In the meantime, the EU Commission has approved aid totaling 2.98 billion euros over a period of six years, which the Ministry of Economics welcomes.

Operators can now receive grants directly.

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The money is intended to create incentives to use renewable energies in district heating production and thus boost the energy transition, the EU Commission announced.

But there is still a long, rocky road to get there.

According to the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, those who purchase district heating are still confronted with significantly increasing prices, which is likely to deter many consumers of district heating at the moment.

Source: merkur

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