Renewable energies should come.
That is why heating with oil and gas is becoming more expensive due to rising CO₂ prices.
What the climate package means for tenants and homeowners.
Hanover – So-called CO₂ pricing has been in place for consumers in Germany since 2021.
A carbon price, also known as a carbon price, is a price that has to be paid for emissions of carbon dioxide.
The carbon price serves to internalize external costs of carbon dioxide release, in particular the consequences of global warming.
In 2023, the price will be 30 euros per tonne of CO₂ emissions.
CO₂ pricing also affects homeowners and renters.
This is reported
by Kreiszeitung.de.
The following applies: the higher the consumption, the more you have to pay.
This is intended to promote renewable energies in Germany.
Climate package: what tenants and homeowners can expect from CO₂ pricing
Owners of properties they use themselves pay the fee directly with the heating costs to the utility company, while tenants usually get it added to the ancillary costs.
Because the CO₂ price will continue to rise in the future, the use of fossil fuels will become more and more expensive.
The goal behind it: to motivate more people to refurbish their property to make it more energy-efficient.
The crux of the matter: So far, landlords have been able to pass on the entire CO₂ price to their tenants.
Their incentive to change the heating system or thermal insulation was therefore manageable.
The tenants, on the other hand, were more or less at the mercy of the CO₂ price.
They could only influence the amount of their bills through their own heating behavior.
The federal government's climate package: no longer pass the CO₂ price on to tenants in full
Since the beginning of the new year, landlords have no longer been able to pass the CO₂ price on to their tenants in every case.
This is only possible if your property meets particularly high energy standards (EH 55).
The poorer the energy quality of the building, the higher the share of costs that landlords have to bear – up to 90 percent.
This applies to billing periods from January 1, 2023.
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This will not change anything for owners of properties they live in - they will continue to pay the full CO₂ price alone in the future.
But what should tenants know for their future utility bills?
Climate package in Germany: How is the CO₂ price calculated?
Because CO₂ is released when a fossil fuel is burned, dealers and producers have had to buy so-called emission certificates from the German Emissions Trading Authority of the Federal Environment Agency since 2021.
They pass these costs on to consumers according to consumption.
The certificate per tonne of CO₂ emitted costs 30 euros this year.
By 2026, the price should gradually increase to at least 55 euros.
From 2027, the price should be free on the market.
Because the supply of emission certificates is to be gradually reduced, further price increases are to be expected.
Climate package: How can tenants check whether landlords are complying with the new CO₂ pricing regulations?
According to the new regulation, landlords must state the specific CO₂ emissions of their building in kilograms of carbon dioxide per square meter of living space on their annual heating bill.
"This value is then used to classify into one of ten levels that determine which party has to bear which share of the CO₂ costs," says Florian Munder, energy expert at the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations.
Tenants can check whether the landlord or landlord has made the classification correctly by comparing it with the level model of the Federal Ministry of Economics.
If you want to check whether the specific CO₂ emissions have been calculated correctly at all, you can request an inspection of the receipt from your landlord.
"The energy supply companies are obliged to provide the necessary information on the CO₂ value of their delivery in their invoices," says Munder.
Dividing the total CO₂ value by the living area of the building gives the specific CO₂ emissions.
What can tenants do if the landlord does not implement the cost sharing of the CO₂ price?
If a landlord does not determine the share of the CO₂ costs attributable to the individual tenants, they would have the right to reduce the heating bill by three percent, according to energy expert Munder.
If landlords have made the wrong allocation, tenants should first seek dialogue.
If an agreement is hopeless, the advice centers of the consumer advice centers can be a good place to go.
Climate package and CO₂ price: What applies to tenants who provide their own heat - for example with gas heating?
In this case, tenants pay the CO₂ tax directly and in full to the supplier.
If the landlord has to bear part of the costs according to the tiered model, he must reimburse the share of the costs he has to bear.
"Tenants must assert this claim for reimbursement in text form within twelve months of receiving the bill from their energy supply company," says Florian Munder.
If the parties have agreed on an advance payment of operating costs, the reimbursement amounts can be offset as part of the next annual operating cost statement.
If there is no billing of operating costs or no offsetting, landlords would have to reimburse the amount no later than twelve months after notification, according to Munder.
(with dpa material)
