The Federal Ministry of Economy announced that the expert committee set up by the government participated in a nearly 35-hour marathon negotiation, which ended "successfully". The Tagesschau news site highlighted that the expert committee has drawn up a series of recommendations for the federal government. Among the recommendations, there is also a proposal for the so-called gas brake.
The committee has developed a two-step relief proposal to combat high gas prices, the first step of which is the state taking over the December flat-rate costs of gas and district heat consumers, while the next step would be the introduction of a gas and heat price brake from the beginning of March 2023 until at least the end of April 2024 .
The gas price brake means that the state-guaranteed gross price of 12 cents/kilowatt hour is imposed for basic consumption, but above the quota, consumers would have to pay a market price. The basic quota corresponds to 80 percent of gas consumption.
In the case of district heat consumers, a heat price brake would be introduced, which would impose a guaranteed gross price of 9.5 cents/kilowatt hour for basic consumption, also with a basic quota of 80 percent.
The Tagesschau also drew attention to the fact that in order to avoid a gas shortage, it is necessary to reduce gas consumption by households and industry by twenty percent compared to the previous year.
The federal government has promised a quick investigation into the recommendations of the expert committee dealing with gas brakes, and will urgently discuss their implementation, which was announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
“Despite the tight schedule, the committee has developed a very good foundation. Our goal is clear, to reduce high gas prices, while at the same time ensuring continuous gas supply," the government spokesman added.
You can read the entire article on the hirado.hu portal.
