Households and smaller companies with an annual consumption of up to 1.5 million kilowatt hours receive the one-time relief payment to cushion the high gas prices. Certain facilities in the care and education sector and in medical care also receive emergency aid even if their consumption is higher. The relief is in the “higher single-digit billion range” and is to be financed from the Economic Stabilization Fund.
The government thus adopted one of the proposals from the gas expert commission. The relief measure is to be introduced to the Bundestag at the end of next week and then also to be decided by the Bundesrat.
According to Habeck, applications from natural gas and heat suppliers should be possible as early as mid-November so that the suppliers receive their money from the state in good time. “All actors – suppliers, banks and government agencies are called upon to make the relief possible in a joint effort in good time,” he explained.
The December aid is a first step towards relief, in a next step a gas price brake and electricity prices are to be introduced in the coming year. In a key issues paper, the Chancellery, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance have now agreed on the details, and the whole thing now has to be enshrined in law. It is to be introduced to the cabinet in mid-November.
The electricity price brake is to apply from January, as is the gas price brake for industry, which is therefore excluded from the one-off payment in December. The gas price brake for households and small companies will then come at the latest at the beginning of March – the aim is at the beginning of February.
According to calculations by the Check24 portal, a family would be relieved by the electricity price brake by around 320 euros a year, and singles by almost 100 euros. With the gas price cap, the relief for families is 1056 euros per year, for singles it is 264 euros.
