Essen (dpa / lnw) - The head of the Eon regional company Westenergie, Katherina Reiche, has warned against the mass use of electric fan heaters in the event of a gas crisis. "The electricity bill would increase substantially," Reiche told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ, Friday). "And due to the increased demand for electricity, local overloads in the power distribution grids cannot be ruled out."
Around 20 million households in Germany now heat with gas, Reiche calculated. If half of them were to use a two-kilowatt fan heater, the power system would experience an additional load of 20 gigawatts - about a quarter more than on an average day.
Essen-based Westenergie AG is the largest German Eon regional company. The company, which employs almost 10,000 people, unites the group's regional activities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony.
