Berlin.
There should also be a subsidy for consumers who heat with heating oil or pellets. The most important information about the planned relief.
- There is still no clarity for consumers when it comes to the subsidy for heating oil and pellet customers
- The application is still not possible
- Consumers are threatened with a patchwork quilt in Germany
With the planned subsidy for heating oil and pellet customers, consumers are threatened with a patchwork quilt. The reason for this is that the funds for the aid come from the federal government, but the payment is coordinated by the federal states. It is still completely unclear when the payments can begin or when the application can begin. Only last week it was said from Lower Saxony that one was confident that applications could be made in April at the latest. In Thuringia, on the other hand, they are only aiming for May.
The federal government wants to make 1.8 billion euros available for the grants. At the end of 2022, the Federal Council gave the go-ahead for the project. Read here: These subsidies are available for your heating in 2023
Previously, there had been a long struggle to obtain corresponding relief. Because even if the pellet and heating oil prices have risen enormously – the rise in price has not been as dramatic as with gas. Nevertheless, many consumers with oil or pellet heating felt disadvantaged in view of the gas relief. And there was also criticism from the opposition: Households that still heat with oil have forgotten the traffic lights, said Jan-Marco Luczak, spokesman for building policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND).
Also read: Subsidy for heating oil and pellets is fixed – observe these conditions
Subsidy for heating oil and pellets: What does the application form look like? What is already known
She wants that she didn’t do exactly that federal government now apparently prove. As can be seen from a key issues paper, from which the news agency AFP quotes, among other things, there should be help of up to 2000 euros per household because of the high energy prices. Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) explained that the relief that has now been decided will “heal an imbalance in the previous aid”. Although the price increase for oil and pellets was not as exorbitant as for gas, “it was still very painful for many”.
The federal states are to take over the payment of the money – however, it is made available by the federal government. To the Help to obtain it, you must apply for it. That’s one of the big differences compared to the relief for gas customers, which is paid out automatically. How exactly the applications will work and from when the Subsidy towards heating costs will be transferred is not yet known. Read here: That’s why the payment of the subsidy for heating oil has been delayed for so long.
An administrative agreement between the federal and state governments is currently pending approval in the federal states. Occasionally it is said from countries like Thuringia or Baden-Württemberg that the application will soon be possible. When exactly consumers can ask it and what it looks like is still completely unclear. There will also be a patchwork quilt in the procedure. Each state will go its own way.
Most recently, it was said from Lower Saxony, for example, that applications for state heating cost subsidies will probably be possible in the northern German states from April. On March 23, the Economics Ministry in Lower Saxony gave details of the plans being made with Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-VorpommernBremen and Hamburg voted.
“A joint application portal and joint application processing” are planned, with Hamburg taking over the overall coordination. “It is possible that other countries will join.” The “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” had previously reported on this. According to the business department in Hanover, it is about “hardship aid” for consumers in cases in which the expenditure for the energy sources mentioned was at least twice as high in the past year as in 2021. From Thuringia it is said that a platform will be activated on the Internet. That doesn’t sound like a really coordinated project.
Federal government approves subsidy for heating oil, pellets and liquid gas
What is certain, however, is that the subsidies should be available for all households that heat with “non-mains-bound fuels”. It refers to energy sourcesthat are not distributed via a fixed network, but are instead delivered to the end consumer by tanker truck, for example. This includes:
- fuel oil
- wood pellets
- LPG
But there are also exceptions to this rule. In Germany, for example, all gaseous fuels are considered “line-bound energy sources” – even though about natural gas or hydrogen can also be transported in bottles or by truck.
Relief for heating oil and pellet customers: who receives the subsidy?
They can apply discharge all consumers between January 1st and December 1st fuel oilLPG or Pellets bought. Another condition: the price must have at least doubled. To prove this, a corresponding invoice must be submitted. In addition, there should be a so-called de minimis limit: If the increase in heating costs compared to the previous year is less than 100 euros, there will be no subsidy from the state.
The Social association VdK welcomed the aid, with which budgets are now to be relieved retrospectively. Now it is crucial that the help “reaches those affected in the shortest possible time,” said VdK President Verena Bentele, according to AFP. She called on the countries to regulate the payment unbureaucratically. (with afp)
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