The Minister of Economy and Deputy Chancellor of Germany, Robert Habeck (Robert Habeck), again spoke out in defense of the new gas surcharge (Gasumlage) for end users. Excerpts from an interview with the head of the department were published on Monday, August 15, by the heute journal program of the German public and legal TV channel ZDF.

“This is a difficult step, but it is necessary, like many other decisions these days,” said the minister. In his opinion, without this measure to protect gas suppliers, the German energy market would have collapsed due to the shortage of Russian gas.

The German authorities had previously decided to allow energy companies to charge consumers for the supply of gas an additional fee in addition to the tariffs stipulated in existing contracts.

“A fair, understandable and very transparent step”

Habek explained that another option would be to charge only customers of companies that would face serious losses. “So about half of Germany would have to pay double and the other half would pay nothing,” the minister said. It would be problematic from a social policy point of view, he said. “The alternative we have chosen today is better, even though it involves heavy workloads,” said Robert Habeck.

The politician pointed out that the procedure by which the rate is calculated has been revised several times. “This is a fair step, understandable and, in the end, very transparent,” he said.

The Energy Minister specified that at this stage the issue of additional state aid to energy companies is being discussed, for which budget parameters are being evaluated. “We are currently studying very carefully whether there is a need for further adjustments,” said the department head.

New gas surcharge

Earlier, on August 15, Trading Hub Europe, a joint venture of gas transport companies tasked with defining and agreeing industry-wide on the size of the new gas surcharge, announced that it would be 2,419 euro cents per kilowatt- hour (kWh).

As a result, a family living in an individual house with an annual energy consumption of 20,000 kWh will have to pay an additional 484 euros a year (about 40 euros a month) for hot water and heating, calculated the dpa news agency. .

According to the Institute of German Economics in Cologne (IW), additional costs for one family per person with a floor area of ​​60 m². it will be around 203 euros per year (17 euros per month) and around 542 euros per year (45 euros per month) for a family in an individual house of 140 square meters. m.

Introduced from October

Gasumlage is officially introduced from October 1, 2022, however, German consumer protection laws require customers to be notified in advance of upcoming increases. In this regard, the first time that German families will have to pay a surcharge, probably in November or December.