The federal government is launching emergency aid for gas customers worth billions. Gas and heat customers are to be released from their advance payments for the month of December.
To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs initiated the departmental coordination, as the German Press Agency learned from government circles on Wednesday. As a first step, the proposals of the gas expert commission set up by the government should be implemented.
The “emergency aid” should compensate for the increased energy bills in 2022 and bridge the time until the planned introduction of the gas price brake next spring. Tenants and members of homeowners’ associations should receive the relief as part of their annual heating bill and corresponding information about the estimated amount of their relief.
Relief in the high single-digit billion range
Overall, the relief will be in the higher single-digit billions, according to government circles. Financing comes from the newly established Economic Stabilization Fund. With this “defense shield” of up to 200 billion euros, the federal government wants to cushion the consequences of high energy prices for consumers and companies.
A draft law on emergency aid is to be passed in the cabinet on November 2nd. Even if wholesale prices have recently fallen, the further development remains uncertain, it said.
Specifically, so-called final consumers of pipeline-bound natural gas and heat customers are to be exempted from the December down payment, as stated in a paper. It is about a one-time relief for the year 2022 in the amount of the down payment for the month of December 2022.
In the case of natural gas, the relief corresponds to the product of one twelfth of the annual consumption and the price agreed for December 2022, supplemented by a proportionate relief for the other price elements.
Many landlords have not yet adjusted advance payments
The reference to the prices agreed for December 2022 should ensure that the sometimes very different and sometimes considerable price increases at the end of 2022 are taken into account in favor of the end consumer.
For reasons of implementation, this differs from the proposals of the expert commission: This provided for a one-off payment based on consumption, on which the advance payment from September 2022 was based.
According to the federal government’s paper, the relief for district heating should correspond to the amount of the September bill plus a flat-rate adjustment factor, which should reflect the price increases in the period up to December.
For tenants and landlords, there should be a separate regulation on the transfer of the relief. Many landlords have not yet adjusted the monthly advance payment to the increased gas and energy prices.
Many tenants therefore continue to pay comparatively moderate discounts, based on the prices and consumption of the previous year. These tenants would receive the higher prices as part of the heating cost bill for 2022, which will be drawn up in 2023. The relief planned for December should therefore be passed on by the landlords to the tenants with the next annual heating bill.
