The German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) considers the end of the Federal Energy Saving Ordinance on April 15 to be appropriate. “There is currently no gas shortage, so that expiry of the Energy Saving Ordinance via short-term effective measures is appropriate,” said a spokesman for the association. Cities and municipalities will therefore continue to look at ways of saving energy. As an example, the spokesman mentioned the conversion of street lighting to LED.
In late summer 2022, the federal government reacted to the energy crisis with savings targets for cities and municipalities. According to the ordinance on short-term energy saving measures, the maximum room temperature in public workplaces should be reduced to 19 degrees. As a rule, there should no longer be hot water for washing hands. Buildings, monuments and advertising spaces should also no longer be illuminated at certain times. This Saturday (April 15th) these guidelines end.
What did it bring?
The DStGB emphasized that some of them were overdue anyway because of the slowly rising temperatures. From the point of view of the Federal Ministry of Economics, it is not possible to evaluate exactly how much the individual measures have achieved in detail. According to figures from the Federal Network Agency, Germany saved a lot of gas last year, a spokeswoman for the ministry said. In the months from October to December, consumption in industry was 23 percent below previous years.
The feedback from the cities and municipalities to the DStGB had shown “that energy has been and will continue to be saved in an ambitious manner across the board”. The federal ordinance has helped to ensure the energy supply in recent months.
Nevertheless, with a view to winter, for example, it is important to use less energy in the medium term. “Especially energetic building renovations are an important topic for municipalities, for which they are dependent on support from the federal and state governments,” explained the DStGB. Medium-term measures to save energy – such as an obligation to optimize building heating systems – have been in effect for two years since October 1 of last year.
