Erfurt/Berlin (dpa/th) - Thuringia's state politicians have demanded financial compensation for consumers in response to the state gas levy from October. The traffic light government should announce further relief, especially for people with low incomes, Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund said on Twitter on Monday. "A winter carried by solidarity means that strong shoulders can carry more," wrote the Greens politician. The member of parliament for the left, Karola Stange, also called for relief. The background is the amount of the gas surcharge, which has now been determined.
The SPD energy politician Denny Möller pleaded for a "state gas price cap". "The federal government must temporarily cap the level of gas prices up to a minimum supply quantity," he said in Erfurt.
The surcharge should be 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour, as announced by Trading Hub Europe, a joint venture of the gas transmission system operators in Germany, in Ratingen. With the levy, increased procurement costs are passed on by importers to customers. The Ministry of Economics had previously assumed a range of 1.5 to 5.0 cents per kilowatt hour.
Rod explained that decisions were needed "that really relieve people and take away the immediate threat to their existence from the exploding costs". She advocated a hardship fund for low-income households. With a view to the expiry of the 9-euro ticket and the tank discount at the end of August, there is an urgent need for action, emphasized the energy politician of the left, Markus Gleichmann. He also complained that the amount of the gas levy was determined by private companies.
With the gas levy that has now been determined, the additional costs for a household with a single-family house and an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours amount to around 484 euros a year. If VAT is also due, they rose to 576 euros. However, the federal government wants to prevent the tax from becoming due.
