Heating Woes for Tenants: Ballooning Costs Informed by Energy Crisis and Consumption Spikes
In the current heating season, tenants across Germany may brace themselves for substantial heating bills, based on forecasts from energy service provider Ista. The reasons behind this anticipated surge are increased electricity consumption and exorbitant oil and gas prices. Contrarily, Ista predicts lower costs for district heating.
Over the course of September to November, private households' heating energy usage rose by a whopping 12% compared to the corresponding period in 2021, all things considered, as per Ista's Berlin report issued on Wednesday. Heat consumption levels remain at or even surpass previous figures, despite exorbitant energy prices. According to Ista's CEO, Hagen Lessing, this generous heating trend persists because people tend to believe lower energy prices guarantee security. In actuality, the overall cost of oil and gas this winter surpasses last year's levels, particularly for natural gas.
Wholesale prices for heating oil and natural gas have fallen slightly since their respective peak levels from last year. Regardless, the projected increase in costs for natural gas will reach approximately 61%, and heating oil will raise about 34% during the current heating period. Lessing cited these figures as a potential money trap for numerous tenants.
Averaging Ista's 2022 calculations, natural gas bills in Germany will amount to 7.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for two-and-a-half million apartments, while heating oil will cost 9.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. On the other hand, Ista predicts a 24% decrease in costs for district heating, starting at 12.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2022.
To cater to tenants' evolving needs, Ista unveiled a new, publicly accessible monitoring tool, "Heiz-O-Meter," which analyzes heating data from approximately 350,000 German households. Adjusted for weather and time, the tool addresses this information in the middle of each month, making it up-to-date, detailed, consistent, and census-worthy across Germany, individual federal states, and the 20 largest cities. Per Ista, this function equips tenants with a better understanding of their heating behavior compared to the broader pattern.
Additional Insights
Through Ista's analysis, tenants in North Rhine-Westphalia, particularly those relying on heating oil, may face significant additional costs in the current heating period due to increased consumption and escalating fuel prices.
In Berlin, Ista reported a 12% increase in heating energy consumption among private households from September to November compared to the same period the previous year. However, with higher prices, the cost of heating oil is anticipated to soar by 34%, while the cost of natural gas could climb by 61% during the heating period.
German residents have been lulled into a false sense of security by the lower energy prices, yet the actual price level for oil and gas this winter is significantly more expensive than last year, specifically for natural gas. Consumers can now avail themselves of a new monitoring tool, "Heiz-O-Meter," which offers an up-to-date, in-depth, climate-adjusted, and widely comparative image of their heating behavior, allowing tenants to better comprehend their energy usage levels relative to the broader trend, potentially aiding in cost management during the winter season.
These figures primarily result from the energy crisis snaked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which inflated the expenses for alternative energy sources like liquefied natural gas (LNG).
