Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) has activated the alarm level in the gas emergency plan. He said this at a press conference in Berlin. “We have a disruption in the gas supply in Germany,” said Habeck.
After consultation within the federal government, he declared the second of three shortage levels on Thursday morning. “From now on, gas will be a scarce commodity in Germany.” The gas storage facilities are above average and the gas supply is still stable at the moment.
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“The current situation must not give us a false sense of security,” said the minister. Since the throttling of Russian gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the situation has become even more tense in order to get through the winter. “Gas is used as a weapon against Germany,” said Habeck.
The alert level is the second of three escalation levels of the gas emergency plan. The relevant regulation was first activated after the Russian attack on Ukraine. Habeck had declared the early warning level on March 30th.
According to the plan, at the alert level now declared, there is a disruption in gas supply or an exceptionally high demand for gas, leading to a significant deterioration in the gas supply situation. However, the market is still able to handle this disruption or demand.
The announcement is related to the severe throttling of Russian gas supplies since last week.
The alert level in the gas emergency plan means that the gas market, which is actually deregulated, can be observed even more closely by politicians. Only in the third and final stage, the so-called “emergency stage”, would the state actively intervene in the gas market.
The Federal Network Agency would then have to manage the massive gas bottleneck. The law stipulates that private households for heating and emergency infrastructure such as hospitals or fire brigades must be given priority.
With the alarm level now declared, the Ministry of Economics could already relieve the energy companies, which currently have to buy gas at expensive world market prices, but which they pass on to customers in business and private households at low prices due to long-term contracts.
An amendment to the Energy Security Act, which was passed in the Bundestag in May, gives energy suppliers the option of passing on prices directly in the event of an alarm – bypassing the current contracts. “But that’s not automatic and that’s why we won’t pull it today,” said Habeck.
The Federal Network Agency must first have determined a “considerable reduction in the total gas import volumes to Germany”. This determination must be published in the Federal Gazette. Only then are companies allowed to raise prices to a “reasonable level”. Because of the alert level, there is no further price increase immediately.
But Habeck also said on Thursday: “Prices are already high and we have to be prepared for further increases.” This will affect industrial production and become a major burden for many consumers.
Apparently, the Ministry of Economics now wants to send a strong signal to save more energy. The Economics Minister sees the duty of industry, but also of private households. Habeck wants to create incentives for the economy to save energy. As in an auction, companies should be able to sell the gas they save.
“Private households can also make a contribution,” said Habeck, and advocated having the heating systems optimally adjusted before winter. These are seemingly trivial measures, but all in all they would have a great effect.
