German households continue to save energy even as prices drop – survey
Clean Energy Wire
A majority of households in Germany continue to save energy also more than two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which exacerbated a major energy crisis leading to unprecedented energy price hikes, said price comparison website Check24. Three-quarters of respondents in a survey said that they started conserving electricity, gas or heating oil at the beginning of the crisis, and almost all of them (93%) continued to do so this day. Half of the respondents said they save energy to the same extent, 22 percent even more and 21 percent still saved energy, but to a smaller extent. "Although energy prices are currently at a low level again, the majority of Germans are still saving on energy consumption," said Billy Scheufler, managing director of energy at Check24.
Decreasing fossil gas deliveries to Germany from Russia even before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and then a complete halt by late summer of that year caused prices to reach record-highs – both for private consumers, who often still heat their homes with gas, and for industry, which uses the fuel in production. Electricity, oil and coal prices had also increased at the time, but since have largely returned to pre-crisis levels.
