The heating plans of Economics Minister Robert Habeck will be a financial challenge for the municipalities. Therefore, they are now demanding support.
Berlin – The traffic light government is planning a comprehensive heat transition. A central component of this is the replacement of climate-damaging heating systems with more climate-friendly heating systems. This is likely to cost not only private households dearly. The plans so far are also costing the municipalities a lot.
Habeck's heating plans: Association of cities and municipalities calls for financial injection
According to calculations by the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the heating system replacement would cost the municipalities at least eight billion euros. 135,000 municipal buildings would have to be equipped with a new heating system by 2045. In order to meet the requirements, there would be additional costs per system of 60,000 euros each, according to the Association of Cities and Municipalities, according to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.
In order to cope with this, municipalities and the municipal housing industry would have to be financially supported comprehensively and in the long term, demanded the chief executive of the municipal association, Gerd Landsberg. He criticised the fact that municipalities have so far been excluded from the promised subsidies. Of the approximately 180,000 municipal administration buildings, schools, hospitals or sports halls, the majority are still heated with oil or gas. According to the information, fossil-fuelled heating systems have also been installed in new buildings in four out of ten cases.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck defended the controversial legislative plans. On Deutschlandfunk, the Green politician spoke of a major law that will have an effect for decades and is a milestone in climate policy.
Habeck's heating law: These are the plans
According to the draft law passed by the Federal Cabinet, 2024 percent of every newly installed heating system is to be powered by renewable energies from 65 onwards. This is intended to herald the farewell to gas and oil heating systems. There is no immediate obligation to replace heating systems in existing buildings. If a device breaks down and can no longer be repaired, there are transition periods. Boilers will only be able to run on fossil fuels until the end of 2044. Parliamentary deliberations are still in their infancy.
With regard to the planned promotion of the heating conversion, Habeck said, "it is a lot of money that we are spending". But it's also only for a limited time. This is because there will be a significant decline in the price of heat pumps in the next few years. "That's why we're talking about a limited period of time where a little more money will be spent, and that's going to level off in the market."
+Switching from oil or gas heating to a heat pump, for example, can be expensive. This is now also feared by the municipalities.
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Subsidies for heating system replacement: This is how much households should receive
Last Friday, the Greens in the Bundestag presented a concept for a stronger social staggering with higher state funding. The funding concept presented by the Federal Government has so far provided for a basic subsidy of 30 percent of the investment costs for all citizens in owner-occupied housing for the replacement of an old fossil fuel heating system with a new climate-friendly heating system. In addition, under certain conditions, there will be surcharges in the form of "climate bonuses" of an additional 10 to 20 percent.
The Greens are now proposing that there should be a socially staggered subsidy in addition to the basic subsidy and the climate bonuses. This could amount to up to 80 percent of the total costs of a new, climate-friendly heating system. The funding rate decreases gradually with the level of income. (ph/dpa)
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