The heating drama in the community of Wenzenbach near Regensburg is entering the next round. They have been freezing in the Roither Berg district for more than a month because their district heating provider, EVW, turned off the heating and hot water. The company is now insolvent. How do the people of Wenzenbach get warm again? And: How can such a situation be prevented in the future?
First about the heat: The network could have been put back into operation, but only with very high advance payments of between 800 and 1,500 euros per month. According to insolvency administrator Harald Schwartz, the residents might have gotten some back later if the actual needs had been accounted for. Nevertheless, very few people wanted to pay that much money.
This creates a dilemma. Those of the 70 or so households who could afford it have now bought a heat pump. The remaining 35 households are at a disadvantage. Many of them still have to pay off their house, including single mothers. If you can’t afford a heat pump, you have to stay on the district heating network and the fewer people use it, the more expensive it becomes. In short: “Those who have the least pay the highest price,” says Schwartz.
Wenzenbach is an extreme case, but there are also problems with heating networks in other places. Mayor Sebastian Koch (SPD) is therefore calling for stricter rules for district heating. Florian Munder from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations told BR: “These are natural monopolies. People have no opportunity to change their supplier and are therefore at the mercy of this behavior.” Unlike with electricity and gas, the only way forward in the event of a dispute is to go to court. Munder would therefore also like to have an arbitration board like the Federal Network Agency for district heating.
In Wenzenbach, insolvency administrator Schwartz is now trying to save what can be saved. It doesn’t seem to be easy. He had a sponsor who promised to cover a large part of the gas costs of almost 35,000 euros. The company apparently expected the donation to generate good publicity with headlines like: “Company X saves freezing citizens.” But now the management is hesitant. Apparently she was informed that some of the residents were being investigated because they were said to have fraudulently obtained services from the former energy supplier EVW.
If you can’t afford a heat pump, you may have to move out
EVW has been arguing with a number of residents in court for years. She speaks of outstanding bills running into millions, some are said to have received heat illegally, and residents talk about excessive demands for payment. One thing is certain: nerves are on edge in Wenzenbach. Schwartz talks about “rough emails,” written with a lot of emotion at night, that also reach his office. But well, he understands that: “If you were affected yourself, you would also be pissed off.” And he continues to look for a solution.
A takeover by another company would be one of these. There are a number of people who are seriously interested, says Schwartz. However, a takeover is only worthwhile under certain conditions: more people would have to use the heating network, and other customers would have to be added, such as the town hall or the school. However, trust in district heating is currently manageable in Wenzenbach. That’s why Schwartz proposed a deal, a so-called purchase with a debtor warrant. It works like this: A company buys a power plant and network for very little money, but if the conditions improve, it then has to pay even more.
Schwartz now hopes that a company will agree. If not, residents who can’t afford a heat pump could end up with only one option: moving out.