Dimmed street lights, colder showers, less cooking: Germans and municipalities in Germany are cutting back on energy consumption in light of looming energy price hikes. DW editor Oliver Pieper has more.
has estimated that the levy will end up costing"several hundred euros per household" annually.
Alexander Zeeh, managing director of plumbing equipment giant Grohe Germany, told DW that demand for water-saving appliances has risen significantly in recent weeks. Particularly, he said, for shower heads and sinks. Right now, the most sought-after people in all of Germany seem to be energy consultants. Celia Schütze is one of the country's 13,000 such consultants, having set up the Bonn Energy Agency 10 years ago and now acting as its managing director.
Schütze said that"partly there is a feeling of helplessness. Many people have no idea at first where their biggest consumption is. They don't know where to start. Of course, many people have also thought for a long time that their gas heating is modern and efficient. But that's not true at all. Because every gas heating system is also using fossil fuels.