The federal government relieved consumers of the deductions for gas and heat in December with 4.3 billion euros. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Economics on Saturday in Berlin. With the so-called December emergency aid, the deductions for private households were eliminated. Small and medium-sized companies with an annual consumption of up to 1.5 million kilowatt hours were also relieved. Social, research and educational institutions were also entitled.
According to the energy industry association BDEW, around 20 million households will benefit from the emergency aid. The aim was to dampen the increase in energy prices as a result of the halt in Russian energy supplies in the wake of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The exemption from deductions was automatic. For tenants, the relief should usually only arrive with the next utility bill.
According to the ministry, the energy suppliers can still submit applications for advance payment for the relief until the end of February. 3590 applications with a total volume of 4.4 billion euros have been received so far, 3212 have now been processed. According to the federal government, they are checked by the auditing company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The payments are made by the Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW) and the house banks of the utility companies.
There are further reliefs with the gas and heat price brake as well as the electricity price brake. The price brakes that came into effect in March also apply retrospectively to January and February. Since January 9, natural gas suppliers and heat supply companies as well as self-suppliers have also been able to apply for advance payments for relief introduced with the gas and heat price brake. According to the ministry, payments are planned from February 1st.
December emergency aid
