According to plans by the German gas commission, households and companies will receive a special payment this year in the amount of a monthly bill. The state must take over the respective advances for gas once. In a second phase, a gas price brake should apply from March or April.
With the gas brake, each customer should receive a state-subsidized quota of 80 percent of expected consumption. The remaining 20 percent should be paid according to the market price.
The quota could be subsidized to about 14 cents per kilowatt hour. “It is presented in this direction,” the committee said of the not-yet-final draft. District heating customers should be treated in the same way as gas customers.
According to the newspaper, the suppliers of all customers with a so-called standard charging profile – ie practically all household and business customers – must submit the monthly bill to a government agency. In addition to the gas bill, the district heating bills must also be settled afterwards. The document suggests that there should be no exact billing based on consumption. The costs are not calculated there. With current gas prices, a December monthly statement should probably be in the double-digit billion dollar range.
The special benefit has the advantage that it can provide relief relatively quickly. The disadvantage is that there are no incentives to save. It is considered necessary for households and industry to save 20 percent on gas compared to previous years to avoid a gas shortage.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
