Ever since Russia cut back on its gas supplies to Germany, morning showers have also become political. Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) appeals to the population to save energy wherever possible and shows himself to be a role model. “I’ll take a quick shower,” he said mirror betrayed and started a banter about morals and politics in the shower. But what does this individual response to the energy crisis really bring? How much does a cold shower help?
A call to Stadtwerke München (SWM) brings clarity: If you compare the gas consumption from March to July 2022 with the same period of the previous year, then private households and commercial customers consumed 14.7 percent less this year than in 2021. This is evident at first Looks impressive, but on closer inspection it’s not. The comparison is distorted above all by the fact that it was significantly cooler in 2021 than this year, so there was more heating. The first half of 2021 was also heavily influenced by corona measures and their consequences. Many Munich residents worked from home and used more energy there than usual.
In addition, the SWM point out that the impending energy shortage “only gradually” arrived in people’s minds. “A widespread change in behavior among the population is likely – if at all – to have occurred only in the past few weeks,” says a spokesman for the company. In fact, the gas savings effect is likely to be significantly lower than the figures initially suggest. The situation is similar with electricity, of which household and commercial customers consumed around 5.5 percent less between March and June 2022 than in the previous year.
Conclusion: showering and cooking are not the big issues when it comes to economy – it’s the heating that counts. About half of all Munich households have gas heating. Consumption largely depends on the temperatures outside. The summer months of June, July and August account for only a small proportion of annual gas consumption, less than three percent, according to the municipal utility. “Even if there were significant changes in customer behavior here, we would not (or could not) perceive them in terms of quantity at the moment,” says the SWM statement. In winter, on the other hand, the heating is on – and it consumes around 80 percent of the energy that a private household buys.
The following applies to electricity and gas: Comparing periods in the first half of the year is not very meaningful. “We think the second half of the year will be more interesting here,” says Stadtwerke. In any case, the service charge bill, which many households only receive towards the end of the year, is also “interesting”: it reveals how expensive the energy consumed was. The sometimes drastic price increases have not yet caught on with many customers – or only to a small extent.
In addition, from October there will be a new gas surcharge of 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour. This means that by the end of March 2024, gas suppliers will be able to pass on most of the costs to their customers that they incur because they have to replace missing deliveries from Russia with newly purchased and significantly more expensive gas. The surcharge will probably not be visible on the invoices immediately, but with a slight delay. Consumers who do not want to be surprised by a high additional payment should adjust the discounts themselves and use energy wisely.
Because despite the sobering numbers, one thing remains true: Those who use less energy contribute to security of supply, protect the environment and save money. Every kilowatt hour of electricity saved reduces the use of gas to generate electricity. And every cubic meter of natural gas that is not burned during the warmer months can be stored for the next winter. The municipal utilities provide tips for saving energy on the Internet www.swm.de/energiesparen.