The pricing of district heating is causing a lively debate. According to media reports, Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke has also called for more consumer protection.
Ingbert Liebing, Managing Director of the Association of Local Utilities (VKU), also made a statement in mid-March:
"District heating pricing is by no means a legal vacuum. There are clear legal rules and functioning control mechanisms. If a company does not charge prices in line with the market, the cartel authorities can investigate.
The pricing system is complex: the district heating price is made up of the development of the suppliers' costs and various price indices. As these indices first have to be collected before price adjustments can be made, market price developments reach customers with a considerable time lag.
We had already clearly pointed this out to the German government in the summer of 2022 during the discussion on price brakes and proposed specific adjustments to the timing of cost increases being passed on. Looking back: If district heating customers had been able to adjust prices at an early stage, they would have been better able to benefit from the price brake and the current price increases would not have had to take place."
Incidentally, pricing is based on the development of suppliers' costs and a market component that is orientated towards certain price indices for specific comparative energy sources, in this case gas. This was also welcomed by consumer protection organisations at the time", continued Liebig. "Together with other players, we are already working on a transparency platform on which prices can be compared. As agreed at last year's district heating summit, arbitration procedures are now also being discussed in concrete terms. We welcome such arbitration procedures."
In conclusion, Liebing warned against talking down district heating: many local consumers are very satisfied with this heating option and demand is increasing. There are plans to expand the district heating supply - it is not only the most economical and technically best solution in many places, but also takes climate change into account.
"Anyone who discredits district heating with false accusations is jeopardising the heating transition. We need more district heating to provide CO2-free heating. This is also a goal of the German government, which wants to expand district heating in Germany threefold."
(Quelle: VKU)
