Energy prices meet energy guzzlers: How are municipalities preparing for autumn and winter?

Created: 07/07/2022, 08:00

By: Christoph Peters, Wolfgang Schörner, Magnus Reitinger, Sebastian Tauchnitz, Kathrin Hauser, Elena Siegl, Katrin Kleinschmidt

The merry-go-round of worries in the heads of most district citizens spins even faster than the gas meter when they think about the coming winter.

The administrations are currently observing the situation in particular.

Most buildings are still heated with gas © BÜTTNER/DPA

The energy crisis is getting worse, politicians are increasingly appealing for citizens and companies to save electricity and gas wherever possible.

But do the administrations themselves save?

The local newspaper asked.

District

– The district office is a major consumer of energy, there is no doubt about that.

Almost eleven million kilowatt hours were used in 2020 just to heat the numerous office buildings and secondary schools.

Added to this were two and a half million kilowatt hours of electricity.

So far, around 1.4 million euros have been spent on gas and electricity per year.

That shouldn't get you very far this year.

"We can't just send all employees to the home office either," says district press spokesman Hans Rehbehn.

250 would already be working largely from home anyway.

“But the administrations have to remain manned and open.” An energy cost subsidy for those working from home cannot be paid for tariff reasons.

Radom is planning a heat pump and PV system

One of the biggest energy guzzlers in the district office's area of ​​responsibility is the radome in Raisting.

Although managing director René Jakob has made great efforts to reduce consumption in recent years, the amounts of energy required are immense.

Although heat consumption fell from 1.5 million kilowatt hours in 2008 to 436,000 kilowatt hours, electricity consumption also fell by 80 percent to 21,300 kilowatt hours in the same period - but it will still be expensive this year.

Jakob points out that for years people have wanted to use a combination of heat pump and PV system.

However, the fact that the shell of the monument was torn off during a winter storm meant that the work was delayed.

Hospital boss fears having to ask for more money

The managing director of the hospital GmbH, Thomas Lippmann, has few illusions: "The two hospitals in Weilheim and Schongau are energy guzzlers," he admits.

Almost five million kilowatt hours of electricity alone are consumed every year.

He doesn't see any major savings potential: "Of course we'll reduce the room temperature in administration as much as possible in winter," says Lippmann.

But the patients should not be allowed to freeze and the operation must continue.

The energy crisis would already bring other hospitals to the brink of bankruptcy.

And he also expects that he will have to go to the district council this year to ask for subsidies for the immense energy costs.

Schongau does not yet have a “master plan”

"The city of Schongau will make its contribution to saving energy," says Mayor Falk Sluyterman.

However, the “master plan” is not yet in place.

With its real estate, the city of Schongau is largely connected to district heating, which is a good thing.

One has the topic in view and will take appropriate measures at the beginning of the heating season.

For example, the temperature can be reduced.

They also want to save and raise awareness when it comes to electricity.

For example, a house message could be used to call for people not to leave their PC running overnight or to only turn on the light where it is needed.

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The city of Weilheim has not yet drawn up a specific catalog of measures to save energy.

The largest consumer is the fire station with an annual consumption of around 300,000 kilowatt hours.

The town hall consumes only slightly less energy because of its size and the municipal theater because of the poor building envelope.

The Stadthalle, another energy guzzler, will be closed until the end of 2023 anyway, as property manager Marco Schwentzek reports.

Penzberg wants to sensitize employees

The city of Penzberg has a relatively precise overview of the electricity and gas consumption of the municipal buildings.

The Energy Report 2020 was only presented last May.

Accordingly, 79 percent of the heat consumption is based on natural gas.

The next energy report is expected to be prepared in autumn.

The figures serve as a basis for the decision as to which buildings are to be renovated in terms of energy efficiency.

There is already a feasibility study for the Mayor Prandl School.

However, this only has an effect in the long term.

By

the way : everything from the region is now also available in our regular Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.

As the town hall said when asked, the city administration recently also discussed how to react at short notice in view of the impending energy crisis.

Accordingly, in a first step, all employees should be made aware and encouraged to save energy - for example by controlling the room temperature or reducing the temperature in the halls when they are not in use.

Peiting's mayor sees "no great leeway"

In Peiting, too, people are concerned about the current developments.

Many municipal buildings such as the town hall with kindergarten, the old girls' school, the monastery, the fire stations in Peiting and Birkland or the building yard are heated with gas.

Mayor Peter Ostenrieder says there are still no concrete plans to lower the room temperatures in the company's own properties in the fall.

We'll just have to wait and see how the situation develops.

In any case, there is hardly any scope to save energy in the short term in this way, adds the head of the town hall.

After all, you are already paying attention to the lowest possible consumption.

In Peißenberg the road sweeper runs less often

"We are monitoring the situation closely and are in close contact with the municipal utilities," says the Mayor of Peißenberg, Frank Zellner.

As far as the issue of "heating" is concerned, nothing has been decided yet, "but we can make decisions at very short notice," says Zellner.

The main concern here is the town hall of the market town, which is heated with gas.

Since it was later insulated some time ago, gas consumption has since fallen.

A photovoltaic system on the roof provides electricity in the building, and an e-Golf was purchased as a company car.

In an effort to save energy, there were talks between representatives of the municipality and the municipal building yard about two months ago.

"We checked whether every trip is absolutely necessary." As a result, the sweeper drove less often, says Zellner.

Rottenbuch is flirting with woodchip local heating

Even in the comparatively small municipality of Rottenbuch, people are already pondering energy costs.

The municipal properties (town hall, school, community hall) are currently heated with gas.

The municipal council discussed alternative options as early as March 2022.

There is also currently the idea of ​​setting up a local heating supply based on wood chips.

Talks are going on here at the moment.

According to the town hall, electricity and gas have always been saved, but they would like to commission maintenance for the communal gas heating systems in order to be able to save something here.

Everything from the region

is now also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.