Data shows German households start saving gas – grid agency head
Clean Energy Wire
High energy prices and possibly also pleas by the German government to save gas appear to show an effect among households in the country: The head of the federal grid agency (BNetzA) Klaus Müller said new data on gas use in the private sphere, which his agency plans to publish this week, show that consumption by households is decreasing. “The figures I have already seen make me optimistic,” said Müller at the Handelsblatt Gas 2022 conference in Berlin. The BNetzA head said that aside from gas storages and alternative supply to that from Russia, saving gas is key to avoiding gas shortages this winter. Data from late August initially had shown that industry was doing a lot to save gas, but households at the time still were not doing as much as the BNetzA had hoped, which now appeared to have changed, Müller added.
Saving energy is a key instrument for Europe as it tackles the energy crisis this winter. Energy ministers from EU member states in summer approved a proposal for all EU countries to voluntarily cut gas use by 15 percent in the August-March period from the average from 2017-2021.
