German court: heat pump users not required to pay for switching off gas connection
Handelsblatt
A German court has ruled in a landmark decision that gas network operators are not allowed to pass on the costs of decommissioning a gas connection to consumers who have installed a heat pump, Spiegel reported. The regional court in the city of Oldenburg rejected a charge of 965 euros from regional network operator EWE Netz.
The lawsuit was filed by a regional consumer advice group, and the ruling is not yet final as the company has appealed to Germany's Federal Court of Justice. Sandra Duy, heating expert at the non-profit consumer advice website Finanztip, called the ruling an "important signal for consumers" and called on people who already paid bills for decommissioning their gas connection to reclaim their money, or challenge outstanding charges.
According to a recent nationwide survey by Finanztip, network operators charge flat rates of between 100 and 2,300 euros for decommissioning. A separate survey found at the start of last year that two-thirds of the companies did not charge any costs, while others billed three- or four-digit fees, averaging at 930 euros.
The economy ministry announced in November last year that it was working on a law reform that would enable local utilities to cut consumers off from gas, as many are readying plans to decommission their networks as gas demand is set to dwindle as Germany transitions to climate-friendly heating.