“Financial support for high heating bills is on the negotiating table in the Danish parliament.
Climate, Energy and Supply Minister Dan Jorgensen has said that families receiving high heating bills can apply for financial assistance from the state, after several parties pressured the government in recent weeks to intervene.
416,000 Danish households with gas heating systems will have to pay several thousand kroner more for heating this year than usual, with the extra bill depending on the gas supplier and the size of the home reaching 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000 Danish kroner.
In addition, around 100,000 households that rely on the central heating network have been notified that their heating bill will increase by more than 20%. For some, the warning seems like an increase of 100% and 200% above normal. A large number of these households will receive financial assistance from the state, according to Minister Dan Jørgensen: “We propose to conduct a heating check for the most affected Danes – that is, people who have an individual gas heating system or live in central heating zones where the area's heating supply is mainly based on gas,” according to Jyllands-Posten.
According to the minister, there are “about 400,000 in the first category and about 40,000 in the second category,” and therefore the minister proposes conducting a tax-free check as a way to get through “difficult times.”.
The minister had invited all parliamentary parties to a meeting on energy prices on Thursday morning to discuss subsidies – through a tax-free check – at the negotiating table, where the income on which a family can automatically receive the check without having to apply for it is determined.
No one should feel cold
According to the minister, this will be a “one-time check” for families affected by the rise in gas prices. He added, “We expect prices to fall again during the spring,” acknowledging that financial support for families in gas-fired homes is in stark contrast to the government’s usual climate policy, but the situation is extremely exceptional, he said.
Thus, the government and the parties behind the recent climate agreement have allocated billions of kroner to phase out gas-fired heating systems, as well as to start up heating pumps in Danish regions.
The minister added, according to the source, “We fear that there are people who simply cannot heat their homes. Of course, you shouldn’t have to sit and freeze in Denmark. We will not stand idly by,“ hoping that the issue would be dealt with urgently in parliament so that the tax-free check could be sent soon. Therefore, the government must be able to gather a majority vote in the Danish parliament to provide the required amount of money.
The minister's message comes just weeks after pressure from the two parties supporting the government, in particular the SF and the United List party, as well as several opposition parties, to lend a helping hand to families struggling with high heating prices.
Source: finans.dk
