Hundreds of thousands have no electricity
Published: 22 Feb 12 08:18 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20120222-40893.html
Hundreds of thousands of Germans are likely going without power simply because they can’t afford the bills, according to a North Rhine-Westphalian consumer organisation studying the problem.
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Of the 58 companies the organisation surveyed, three-quarters reported that customers were having problems paying their bills, according to the organisation.
“Price increases of around 15 percent for electricity and gas in the past two years have meant that energy for many households is becoming an unaffordable commodity,” said Consumer Centre head Klaus Müller.
Müller estimated that roughly 120,000 households in North Rhine-Westphalia and 600,000 nationwide are today without power because of bill non-payment.
Under German law, power companies have to take a series of legal steps before cutting off someone’s power, including warning them multiple times. There are also protections making it harder to cut off power to vulnerable people, such as the disabled. But simply being unable or unwilling to pay bills is not a valid excuse.
The Local/DPA/mdm
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Your comments about this article:
Or is that just what they tell us ?.
If true, then what will happen to the price of fossil fuel generated power when the nuke plants are shut off? The only reasonable source of fossil fuel is erde gas and we saw how GasProm slowed down during the cold snap inorder for them to meet their domestic needs.
Benzene is up to 1.62 a liter today,where is this going? people are going to need deep pockets to stay afloat.
2: @raandy 1.62 per Ltr for Benzin? where are you buying? in North Berlin this morning it was 168.9!!!
In Western world countries (such as Germany, UK, US etc), there are 14-20% of households which are in fuel poverty (they have to spend more than 10% of their household income on fuel to keep their home in a 'satisfactory' condition). Unexpected, isn't it?
It's the sun stupid!