Heating hammer in Munich: Stadtwerke want to increase prices for district heating on October 1 - aid fund planned
Created: 09/29/2022, 09:07
By: Sascha Karowski
The prices for heating will increase again significantly in Munich.
© IMAGO
The next price hammer in Munich is imminent: According to information from our editorial team, Stadtwerke München are planning to increase the prices for district heating from October 1st.
Munich – Now heating is getting even more expensive: According to information from our newspaper, Stadtwerke München (SWM) will raise the prices for district heating on October 1st: around 17 percent more per megawatt hour.
Instead of the previous 153.70 euros, 180.32 euros will be due from October 1st.
However, these costs will not be reflected in the ancillary costs bill for end users until next year at the earliest.
Since the Ukraine war and the energy crisis, the cost of district heating has skyrocketed.
Example: A single mother with four children with a consumption of 12.7 megawatt hours had to pay around 700 euros a year for district heating in January 2021.
After increases in the meantime and with the recent price increase, the costs would currently be 2290 euros.
Stadtwerke München increase district heating prices because costs for procurement and generation are rising
SWM normally adjusts district heating prices every three months.
The basis for the calculation is a formula that takes into account both the cost development in the generation and provision of district heating and the respective conditions on the heating market, which in Munich, unlike in other municipalities, is still largely characterized by the use of natural gas and heating oil.
With the system, the energy supplier directly takes falling but also rising prices into account.
For comparison: the energy price per megawatt hour alone rose from 49.28 to 129.17 euros from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, i.e. by 162 percent.
The index price for hard coal climbed by 173 percent from 95.23 to 260.13 euros.
The gas price shot up by 305 percent – from 13.93 to 56.39 euros.
District heating prices in Munich: Leftists in the city council criticize SWM for delaying geothermal expansion
District heating is created when natural gas, coal or waste are burned.
Some combined heat and power plants can produce electricity and heat at the same time and thus use the fossil fuel particularly efficiently.
Households are then supplied with hot water and heating via pipes.
The largest plants in Munich are the thermal power station south and the thermal power station north.
The two main primary energy sources in Munich's district heating are currently natural gas and hard coal.
The share of renewable energies (geothermal energy and thermal utilization) is currently around 15 percent, but it is expected to increase to up to 70 percent by 2030.
The left in the Munich city council had repeatedly criticized that the expansion was progressing too slowly.
Group leader Stefan Jagel: “It now seems to be taking revenge that the municipal utilities have been lagging behind their own expansion plans for geothermal energy for years.” His group had already expected a significant increase of 44 percent on July 1st.
District heating prices in Munich: Stadtwerke München set up hardship funds of over 20 million euros
As reported, SWM had waived this.
According to reports, the increase on October 1st is unavoidable on the one hand and on the other hand it is still far below the price that the public utilities could have charged due to the increased parameters.
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Stadtwerke supports customers with a hardship fund of over 20 million euros.
In cooperation with the social department, it is being examined how and where those seeking help can get the money in the coming year.
In addition, the municipal utilities are expanding their energy-saving advice.
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