Berlin The German Association of Towns and Municipalities has warned of the consequences of a worsening of the gas crisis and has called for consequences. “It must be prevented, also for reasons of security of supply, that the gas suppliers go bankrupt for financial reasons,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg the Handelsblatt. “If the procurement costs for the gas suppliers continue to rise, it will become necessary for the companies to pass these increased costs on to consumers, at least in part.”
The German Association of Cities called for better protection for municipal energy suppliers. The federal government must put the municipal utilities under the protective umbrella for the economy, said City Day President Markus Lewe to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In addition, guarantees and loans are needed for affected utilities and a moratorium to suspend the obligation to file for bankruptcy.
Lewe underlined the great importance of the public utility company. They supply millions of homes, businesses and local industries, he explained. Local transport, municipal hospitals, garbage disposal and baths are also dependent on municipal operations. Security of supply must not be jeopardized.
The concerns of the municipal umbrella organizations are fueled by the fact that the last most important connection for Russian natural gas to Germany was shut down on Monday morning. The reason for this is annual maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which the operator announced a long time ago.
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Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), among others, has expressed acute concerns that Russia will no longer be able to turn on the gas tap even after the maintenance has been completed. As the operating company Nord Stream AG announced, the work should last until July 21. During this time, no gas will be transported to Germany.
Energy saving appeal to the population
The first state protective measures are being considered for the struggling gas supplier Uniper. As the largest German gas importer, the company is under severe pressure after the severe throttling of Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The company has to buy expensive gas to be able to service contracts with its customers. Uniper plays a central role in Germany’s energy supply and supplies more than a hundred municipal utilities and industrial companies.
>> Read also: Germany threatens “social ordeal”: Politicians and economists warn of an escalation of the energy crisis
The head of the Landsberg Cities Association does not want to unilaterally burden the citizens in view of the problematic situation for the energy suppliers. He considers financial compensation measures to be essential for those for whom the sharply rising energy costs are already “a heavy burden”. “That’s why we need a relief package for middle and lower incomes in particular,” he said.
Politicians must act here, otherwise many people would no longer be able to pay the energy costs. “If there is no support, social explosives are created.” At the same time, it must be explained that the state cannot compensate for all losses and that the crisis can only be overcome together.
Landsberg also called on people to save energy. “That’s why it’s right that housing companies are thinking about how gas consumption can be reduced,” he said, referring to the listed housing group Vonovia. This could include, for example, slightly reducing room temperatures at night.
“Just one degree lower room temperature reduces gas consumption by around six percent,” explained the head of the association of cities. However, it is important to “communicate the measures well and clearly and to take people with you”.
According to Vonovia, it wants to reduce the heat output between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to a room temperature of 17 degrees. The hot water supply is not affected by this step, it said.
The group’s approach met with criticism in the traffic light coalition. The co-leader of the SPD-Left, the member of the Bundestag Sebastian Roloff, considers such a measure without the participation of the tenants to be “completely inappropriate and also inadmissible”.
Dispute over termination moratorium for tenants
The FDP housing politician Daniel Föst said: “I don’t think much of unilateral measures by landlords.” People are already “very sensitized and save energy”. In the current situation, every individual is asked. “As a society, it is now important to stand together.”
>> Read also: Hot water, heating, additional costs: What can the landlord change unilaterally?
The owners’ association Haus und Grund has meanwhile called on landlords to agree higher advance payments with tenants because of the high energy prices. “Even if the tenants do not want to pay a higher discount, such a conversation at least makes them aware of the problem of rising energy prices,” said Association President Kai Warnecke to the Handelsblatt.
Warnecke rejects a termination moratorium demanded by the tenants’ association due to the sharp rise in heating costs. “Even during the corona pandemic, nobody was fired – all problems were solved by mutual agreement,” said Warnecke. Now the tenants’ association is sounding the alarm that many tenants will be sitting in cold apartments this winter or could lose their apartments. “That’s just dubious.”
The President of the Central Association of the Housing Industry GdW, Axel Gedaschko, relies on fair cooperation between landlords and tenants. “We recommend that anyone who gets into financial difficulties due to high additional payments should not hesitate, but quickly look for solutions together with the landlord,” said Gedaschko.
The SPD politician Roloff, on the other hand, considers it necessary to legally minimize the risk for tenants. “That’s why a moratorium on termination is needed so that no tenant loses his apartment in this crisis because of increased ancillary costs,” he said.
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