Price shock for district heating: Consumers demand clear controls!

Price shock for district heating: Consumers demand clear controls!

Rostock, Deutschland - Consumer advice centers and the Association of Northern German housing companies have called for a comprehensive review of district heating prices in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A central point of criticism is that in contrast to electricity and gas customers, households cannot switch to other providers, since they are usually bound to the local municipal utilities. This leads to a significant disadvantage for consumers, since they often cannot escape price increases.

In 2023, many district heating customers had to accept price increases of over 30 percent. These drastic climbs have led to the consumer advice centers received massive complaints from customers who report on one -sided price adjustments. The municipal utilities apparently take advantage of their monopoly -like position, so that there is no possibility of changing providers. Consumers are therefore exposed to a significant price risk and have to pay up to 80 percent more for district heating in Rostock, as reported by ndr.de was.

demands for transparency and control

In Güstrow, the basic price for district heating has increased by about 70 percent since 2022, while the labor price has more than doubled. In Neubrandenburg, prices have increased by more than three times since 2021 - from 8.03 to 27.64 cents per kWh. The consumer advice centers criticize the non -transparency of the municipal utilities and demand better protective measures for tenants before excessive prices.

The current price for district heating in Rostock is 18 cents per kWh, which corresponds to an increase of 31 percent compared to the previous year. For 2025, however, a reduction is forecast to around 15 cents per kWh. Despite these predictions, there is concern about unclear price changes and the need to regulate district heating prices.

In addition, it is required that nationwide uniform publication obligations are introduced for price adjustments. Against the background of the monopolistic structure of the district heating market, a legal approach to illegal price increases by consumer protection organizations such as VZBV must be observed. Currently, however, consumers have hardly any room for maneuver until the legal situation, such as "https://www. consumerzentral-mv.eu/marktlaucht/fernwaerme-preispassungen-in-besten-kundenverhaeltnen-41604"> Consumerzentral-mv.eu reported