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What to know about Germany’s new energy saving rules

Germany has put together several measures to save energy over fears of a gas shortage. From shops having to turn off lights at night to a ban on heating private pools, here's what you need to know.

Published: 25 August 2022 16:18 CEST

A person turns the radiator on. Gas bills are set to go up in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer

Germany is urging everyone in the country to do their bit and cut down on energy usage ahead of winter.

It’s part of an effort to save on gas over fears of shortages and amid rising energy costs, and to reduce dependence on Russian gas imports as much as possible.

Although many German cities have already started trying to do their bit – by dimming down lights on monuments or only offering cold showers at swimming pools – the German cabinet is also imposing measures on residents, businesses and public bodies such as churches.

Since gas is used to generate electricity in Germany, electricity consumption is also being reduced.

Germany’s Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said solidarity was needed.

“We are facing a national effort, and it needs a strong interplay between the state, business and society; between the federal government, the states, local authorities, social partners, trade unions, associations, and civil society,” he said. “Every contribution counts.”

According to estimations, gas consumption could be reduced by about two percent as a result of the regulations.

Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck speaks at a press conference on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

“We still have a long way to go,” said Habeck, calling the situation in Germany “tense”.

The two orders based on the so-called Energy Security Act aim to save energy for the colder months.

The measures, which start in September, include:

Public buildings and monuments are no longer allowed to be lit up at night
Shop windows have to turn off lights in their windows from 10pm to 6am
The rules also state that shops that keep their doors open for a long period of time “which results in a loss of heat” can no longer do that – unless it is “necessary for the function of the entrance or exit as an escape route”
In public buildings, offices should be heated only to 19C. Hallways and foyers are not to be heated at all, if possible. The previous recommended temperature was 20C
Public buildings (excluding hospitals and care facilities) should offer only cold water for hand washing
Private pools heated by gas or electricity can no longer be heated
Tenants in Germany will get more leeway to save energy. Currently, there are clauses in some leases that stipulate a minimum temperature in rented rooms. This means that if these tenants want to turn the heating down, they are in breach of their contracts. These contractual obligations are to be temporarily suspended
Gas suppliers and landlords of apartment buildings will be required to inform their tenants about their expected energy consumption, costs and ways of saving energy

These regulations will initially apply for six months.

A second regulation, which must be approved by the Bundesrat and will apply until 2024, will require regular inspections of gas heating systems for the next two years, as well as the replacement of inefficient pumps.

Companies with an energy consumption of more than ten gigawatt hours per year will be required to implement energy-saving measures from October, provided they are profitable for them.

The cabinet also approved a joint legal ordinance by the Economy and Transport Ministry.

It foresees that energy transport by rail will be given priority in future in order to safeguard the operation of power plants and refineries.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) said: “This is not an easy decision, because it means that in these cases other trains have to wait.”

Will there be any further measures?

That’s unclear at the moment. Authorities are keen to avoid ordering people to turn down temperatures in their own home – not least because this would be very difficult to check.

The hope is that people will voluntarily save on energy, especially due to the rising prices.

There has also been talk in the past about urging people to work from home to save energy – however that could prove pricier for ordinary residents.

The façade of the Römer, Frankfurt’s historic city hall, is not lit up to save energy. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

How will all this be monitored?

It’s a good question. Earlier this year, Economy Minister Habeck had said that there wouldn’t be checks carried out on people’s swimming pools, for instance.

The German Association of Towns and Municipalities said this week that local authorities were not in a position to check compliance on the likes of businesses.

The association’s chief executive, Gerd Landsberg, told German daily Bild that it would “not be possible,” to check whether store doors are closed around the clock.

In the end, it “always comes down to people’s common sense” he said.

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Thousands of jobs have already been lost in the region, where wind farms now rise near abandoned open-pit mines and many people look with dread towards 2038, the deadline for the “coal exit”.

Their fears help explain the strong local support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which does not just rail against migrants but also rejects the green energy push and questions man-made climate change.

At local elections held in Spremberg in June, the AfD scored 39.3 percent – an omen ahead of regional elections next Sunday in the state of Brandenburg, which polls suggest it could win.

Lignite, or brown coal, may be a climate killer, but since the 19th century it has been key to the identity of the Lusatia industrial region on the Polish border, known as the Lausitz in German.

“Thousands of people here have been linked to coal their whole working lives,” said the town’s mayor, Christine Herntier, an independent who has held the post for a decade.

“We are proud of our tradition,” said Herntier, 67, pointing to a huge map on her office wall of the Schwarze Pumpe plant and its surrounding industrial complex.

Most people in Spremberg, population 25,000, have grudgingly accepted the coal phase-out plan, under which the government has earmarked billions for structural transition plans, she said.

But, she added, ahead of the state election the winding down of coal “is still a big issue”.

‘Anger over wind farm’

Michael Hanko, the AfD’s top representative in Spremberg, said he is certain that the looming demise of the lignite industry is “one of the main reasons” residents are voting for his party.

“I don’t think the government has really got them on board with this whole prescribed transformation, saying that we now have to do everything with renewable energies,” Hanko said.

Michael Hanko, the AfD (Alternative for Germany) top candidate, in Spremberg, eastern Germany on, September 9, 2024. Photo by Femke COLBORNE / AFP

The AfD, founded about a decade ago, scored a triumph earlier this month when it won an election in the eastern state of Thuringia and came a close second in Saxony.

It now also has a good chance of winning in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin, where it is polling narrowly in first place at around 27 percent.

When the German government decided five years ago to phase out coal, it pledged around €40 billion to help coal regions adapt, with €17 billion for the Lausitz alone.

Much of the money is intended to flow into developing the renewables and hydrogen sectors, helping the region maintain its identity as an energy hub.

But residents complain the investment has been too slow to materialise and is flowing into the wrong places.

In Spremberg, plans to extend a nearby wind park have caused outrage among some locals, who fear it will be a threat to 150-year-old trees, a protected swallow species and drinking water.

‘Something different’

Coal has long been synonymous with the Lausitz region, which takes in parts of Brandenburg and Saxony and a small strip of Poland, and where lignite was discovered in the late 18th century.

But the industry all but collapsed after German reunification in 1990, when most of the region’s open pit mines were shut down and thousands of jobs vanished.

Today, only around 8,000 people are employed in the lignite industry across the Lausitz, with 4,500 of them in Brandenburg, though the industry is still one of the largest private employers in the state and coal remains a strong part of the region’s identity.

Already weary from the problems caused by reunification, people in the region have felt “overwhelmed” by recent global challenges, said Lars Katzmarek, a board member of the Pro-Lausitz campaign group.

Lars Katzmarek, board member of the Pro-Lausitz campaign group. Photo by Femke COLBORNE / AFP

“The coronavirus, the energy crisis, the Ukraine war – these are all very difficult things that people still haven’t fully digested… and perhaps at some point they just close their ears,” he said.

On a rainy morning in Spremberg, Joachim Paschke, 81, who used to work in mechanical engineering and welding, was buying bread rolls in the bakery opposite the town hall.

“I’m definitely not an AfD supporter but I can understand people who are,” he said.

“The established parties have nothing concrete and the AfD is offering something different. People want change.”

By Femke COLBORNE