Adoption of December gas discount for German households finally decided

After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat has now finally approved the first stage of the gas price brake with relief this winter. In a special session on Monday, the state chamber approved the law that provides for the payment of one-twelfth of the annual consumption in December.

In view of the rapidly rising prices, the 20 million gas and district heating customers should be helped quickly. You can set December's payment to zero or have it refunded with the next gas bill, which will primarily affect renters.

The emergency aid is intended as a bridging measure until the gas price brake takes effect, which should be the case next March. However, the federal government is considering moving it forward to February. The federal government expects costs of nine billion euros.

Household and commercial customers who consume no more than 1.5 million kilowatt hours of gas a year will now benefit from this. However, certain facilities in the care and education sector and in medical care also receive the aid, even if their consumption is higher.

This is intended to form a bridge for the second stage of relief, which could then take effect from March. With this second stage, which is later to be decided by the government and parliament, 80 percent of the basic consumption of households and businesses can then be capped at twelve cents per kilowatt hour.

The requirement above that must be paid for at full market price, which is intended as an incentive to save. The average market price is currently around 20 cents per kilowatt hour. The Ministry of Finance has planned expenditure of up to 40.3 billion euros for 2023.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) said it was "very important news" for citizens that emergency aid was being launched. "This is an important relief step, a very pragmatic help." However, the federal government must also clarify this week as to when the gas price brake will apply and what that means for the months of January and February.

The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Michael Kellner, promised that the government would bring all the proposals to the cabinet and the Bundestag in November.