The financial relief for households that heat with oil, pellets, liquid gas or coal is not progressing. What is wrong – and why there is already help in Berlin.
Households that heat with heating oil, pellets, coal or liquid gas will probably have to wait a while longer for state support for heating costs. The reason: the federal and state governments have not yet agreed on how the aid will work in practice. This requires an agreement between the federal and state governments – and that is still pending. The state of Berlin is now the first federal state to set up its own program, financed from state funds.
Background: In mid-December, the Bundestag decided to also relieve customers who heat with heating oil, pellets, coal or liquid gas. Similar to gas or district heating, the state should assume part of the high energy costs for households. The federal government is providing 1.8 billion euros for this. Anyone who paid more than twice the price of the previous year for heating oil between January 1 and December 1, 2022 can submit the invoice. The state takes over 80 percent of the amount that exceeds double, but no more than 2,000 euros.
The federal states should pay out the money. How exactly it works is to be regulated by a federal-state agreement. Among other things, it would have to determine the reference price against which the fuel costs for 2022 will be compared. That could be an average price from the Federal Statistical Office for 2021 – but that’s not certain. The amount of the relief ultimately depends on the reference price.
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, they are currently working with the federal states on the agreement. It sounds different in the federal states: one cannot “confirm” that such an agreement is being worked on with the states, according to the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs, which is responsible for aid. From North Rhine-Westphalia, the Ministry for Homeland, Municipal Affairs, Building and Digitization says: “Only droning silence” can be heard from Berlin on the subject. It was also not clear for a long time who was responsible for this at the federal level.
It is now clear that the Federal Ministry of Economics is responsible. In Bavaria it is now assumed that the negotiations on the agreement “will be started soon”. In Berlin you’ve come a long way. Households that heat with heating oil, pellets, coal or liquid gas have been able to heat there since Tuesday Apply for state aid. According to a Senate spokesman, the federal government is planning relief. However, it is not known when these will come. The aim, however, is “to relieve people quickly”.
In Germany, a good ten million apartments are currently heated with heating oil. That’s about every fourth. In countries such as Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg or Hesse, however, the proportion is significantly higher at one third each.