The heating bill in Germany will triple in 2023 according to the gas regulator

BERLIN, July 14. (DPA/EP) -

Germany's energy regulator estimated on Thursday that the country's consumers are likely to see their monthly heating bills triple next year due to lower Russian gas imports.

"For those who now receive their heating bill, the payments are already doubled, and that before taking into account the war in Ukraine," the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Muller, told the RND media outlet on Thursday. .

"From 2023, customers should prepare for bills to triple at least," he stressed, adding that market prices will be multiplied by seven in some cases.

"It will not affect all consumers immediately or in its entirety, but at some point it will have to be paid for. And that is why it makes so much sense to save more now," Muller added.

Muller has suggested that the increase in supply costs could be met with subsidies to gas companies worth billions of euros or simply by passing on the cost to consumers and offering state aid to those who cannot afford higher prices.

Germany relies heavily on imported Russian gas, supplies of which have plummeted since the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

German authorities currently fear that Moscow will not resume supply via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline once its annual maintenance period ends on July 21.

The German government has repeatedly called on consumers and industry to save energy and is seeking to bolster gas supplies before the heating season begins, fearing a severe shortage.

Muller has stressed that private households would be protected during a severe energy crisis under German and European law, saying it is "not very likely" that households will be cut off from gas.

Even in the worst case, Germany will continue to receive gas from Norway and from terminals in Belgium and the Netherlands, and soon directly from terminals on the German coast.