The Federal Network Agency warns: Households and businesses are already consuming too much gas. “Without significant savings in the private sector, too, it will be difficult to avoid a gas shortage in winter,” say the experts.
Gas consumption by households and businesses has risen sharply. In the past week it was well above the average consumption in previous years, as the Federal Network Agency announced on Thursday. Authorities head Klaus Müller warned: “Without significant savings in the private sector, too, it will be difficult to avoid a gas shortage in winter.”
Up to mid-September, gas consumption was in some cases well below the levels of consumption in previous years. Because private consumers mainly use gas for heating, they have hardly contributed to the savings so far. The fact that consumption now rose sharply with falling temperatures prompted the Federal Network Agency to call for savings.
“Savings must also be made when temperatures continue to fall,” explained agency boss Müller. “It will depend on each individual.” According to the Federal Network Agency, private households and smaller commercial customers in Germany are responsible for around 40 percent of gas consumption.
The large industrial customers were previously responsible for around 60 percent of German gas consumption. According to the Federal Network Agency, consumption here fell by a nominal 22 percent in August and last week was well below the average consumption of previous years.
