Lots of customer complaints
Are consumers being ripped off when it comes to district heating?
06/08/2023 08:26
Millions of people in Germany are supplied with district heating, which is mostly based on fossil fuels. The consumer advice center calls for the conversion to climate neutrality – and because of many price complaints more consumer friendliness. The “district heating summit” will soon take place in Berlin.
As part of the heat transition, the Federation of Consumer Organizations has called on the federal government to strengthen the rights of district heating customers. Board member Ramona Pop explained in Berlin: “Millions of households in Germany heat with district heating. The district heating market must finally be made more consumer-friendly. “The complaints to the consumer centers about non-transparent prices and incomprehensible price increases show that there is a great deal of ambiguity and problems here,” said Pop. “A nationwide, systematic price supervision could take a look at the heating market and the pricing of the suppliers.”
Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Building Minister Klara Geywitz have invited industry representatives to a “district heating summit” next Monday in Berlin. According to circles in the ministries, a “clear signal of departure” for the climate-neutral conversion and expansion of the district heating supply should be sent. On the one hand, the coalition is planning a reform of the building energy law – the so-called heating law – and a reform of municipal heat planning.
States and municipalities should plan conversion
According to the draft law, states and municipalities should present concrete plans in the coming years on how they want to convert their heating infrastructure to be climate-neutral. This is intended to give citizens an important orientation by letting them know whether their house will soon be connected to a district or local heating network – or whether they should convert their heating to a heat pump in the foreseeable future.
Pop called the expansion of district heating an essential component of the heat transition. Decisive for the acceptance of district heating is that the prices are understandable and fair for the consumer. “It is also important for acceptance that the obligation to connect and use is abolished. Heating networks should convince with the quality of their offer and not be able to invoke official compulsion.”