Berliners who heat with heating oil, pellets, coal or liquid gas should receive a one-time payment of up to 2000 euros. Anyone who can prove that their heating costs increased by a factor of more than 1.7 in 2022 compared to the previous year can apply for a corresponding subsidy online from the Investitionsbank Berlin from January 31st. The Senate decided on a corresponding aid program on Tuesday.
The state of Berlin will therefore bear 80 percent of the respective additional costs. A de minimis limit of 100 euros applies to the relief – if the additional costs are lower, no subsidy is paid. The aid applies not only to private individuals, but also to tradespeople.
The relief is “a question of justice,” said Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD). In Berlin, around 320,000 households heat with heating oil and are therefore not subject to the gas price brake decided by the federal government. There are also around 7,000 residential units that are heated with pellets and 1,900 that are supplied with coal. A few households purchase liquid gas.
The respective owners of the heating systems are entitled to apply, emphasized State Secretary for Economic Affairs Michael Biel (SPD). Landlords are obliged to show the state aid on the utility bill and thus pass it on to the tenants. In total, Biel assumes that there are 78,000 applicants.
The red-green-red coalition had already agreed last year on a heating cost subsidy of 75 million euros for so-called non-grid-bound energy sources.
When it comes to implementation, Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz (non-party, for SPD) has always referred to the federal government, which is planning similar aid. The state aid should be adapted to the federal aid, it said.
However, the federal government will not set up its own program, but will make additional funds available to the federal states and leave them to design the aid. The 75 million euros from state funds are therefore topped up with money from the federal budget. A total of 1.8 billion euros are earmarked for this throughout Germany. According to the Königsstein key, Berlin accounts for 93.4 million euros.
For the use of this money, however, the federal government assumed that energy prices would double. Anyone who paid more than twice as much for their energy sources in 2022 would initially receive money from this pot. Double funding is thus excluded.
According to Biel, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Berlin is one of the first federal states to implement aid for users of non-grid energy sources. In addition, the Senate Economic Administration is working on further aid for companies and companies, which will be presented in the coming weeks.
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