Energy expert Claudia Kemfert also sees the need for private households to save energy this winter. Kemfert told the German Press Agency in Berlin: “We can get through the winter well – but there are risks and requirements.” The economist from the German Institute for Economic Research, for example, referred to the damage to the Baltic Sea pipeline between Estonia and Finland, which was probably caused by external influences. “But what also worries me is that people have the impression: everything is safe, we’ll get through the winter well and can continue to heat as before. The gas price cap has the effect of creating a certain level of relaxation. But we have to continue saving gas.”
Kemfert continued: “I haven’t heard this call from the federal government so far. It has to be received by the population that we continue to save gas, similar to last year. I know that’s unpopular, but it would be important because then we “We would be on the really safe side. If it gets very, very cold, the gas storage tanks will be empty more quickly. The issue of saving energy should be addressed more clearly.”
Kemfert also commented on the federal government’s planned extension of the energy price brakes until the end of April 2024. At the same time, the reduction in the VAT rate for gas is scheduled to expire three months earlier than planned at the turn of the year.
Praise for climate money
“I have always criticized the gas price cap because it can have the effect of causing more gas to be consumed,” said Kemfert. “It would be better to relieve the burden on low-income households by, for example, paying out climate money. I still think the climate money is very necessary and it should come immediately.” The benefit would relieve the burden on low-income households in particular because it is paid per capita. “The gas price brake has larger deadweight effects; high-income earners who do this also benefit don’t need it at all.”
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had said that it would technically be possible to pay out the so-called climate money in 2025. This could cushion the burden of rising CO2 prices for refueling and heating with fossil fuels.
Kemfert further said that the problem with the VAT reduction on gas, as always with such measures, is that one does not know whether it will really be passed on and whether lower prices will really reach customers.
Because of the high energy prices after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the federal government temporarily reduced the VAT rate from 19 to 7 percent, thereby making gas cheaper. This special regulation is now set to expire three months earlier than planned at the turn of the year.
