Gas surcharge to start in October - first key points leaked
Created: 07/28/2022, 12:31 p.m
By: Thomas Schmidtutz
Natural gas pipeline: The federal government is planning a gas levy in order to relieve suppliers and to distribute the drastically increased gas prices more evenly.
© Stefan Sauer/dpa
Many suppliers are under heavy pressure because of the increased purchase prices.
To alleviate the need, the traffic light is planning a surcharge for all gas customers.
The first details are now becoming known.
Berlin - The planned surcharge for gas customers is expected to take effect from October 1st.
The
dpa
news agency reported on Thursday, citing informed circles in the Federal Ministry of Economics.
The exact amount of the levy is still unclear, but should be available by the end of August at the latest, it said.
The surcharge depends on the claims made by the gas importers.
Last Friday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called an increase in gas prices by two cents per kilowatt hour and spoke of additional annual costs of 200 or 300 euros for a family of four.
According to calculations by the comparison portal Check24, a surcharge of two cents for an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours would lead to additional costs of 476 euros.
The planned levy is to apply until the end of March 2024.
About half of all apartments in Germany are heated with gas.
Gas surcharge makes rising gas bills even more expensive
The surcharge should enable suppliers to pass on the sharply increased purchase prices to all gas consumers.
According to earlier information, it is planned that importers will be able to pass on 90 percent of the higher procurement costs via the levy.
The importers still have to bear their own costs until the end of September.
Both companies and private households have to pay the surcharge.
The surcharge is based on the price increases of the suppliers, which are gradually taking hold.
For example, Stadtwerke München will raise the gas tariff significantly on August 1st.
At the turn of the year, the utility has already announced another price round.
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Gas levy is intended to secure energy supply in winter
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the planned surcharge is necessary in view of the tense situation on the gas market in order to maintain the supply in the coming winter.
"Without them, gas supply companies would be at risk throughout the supply chain," the ministry said.
The levy should be the same for all suppliers.
This means that the burden is distributed fairly across many shoulders.
The details are to be regulated in an ordinance based on the Energy Security Act (EnSig).
The regulation is expected to be adopted by the cabinet shortly.
The reimbursements for the importers are to be organized by the so-called market area manager Trading Hub Europe.
The company is responsible for organizing the German gas market.
The importers should be obliged to disclose their additional costs precisely.
The additional costs are then passed on to the end customers via the suppliers.
(dpa/utz)
