The reason is still “fundamentally different interests on the consumer and supplier side,” explained the ministry. A “proper discussion” is no longer possible given the shortness of the remaining legislative period. The ministry presented the draft reform in the summer. It stipulated that “price-relevant and other information” about district heating would be published in a central location on the Internet. The so-called price change clauses in the contracts with providers should therefore be “concreted” “in order to make price adjustments more transparent and to tie them to the cost development of the energy sources actually used.” The prices for district heating repeatedly cause criticism. The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, for example, complains that the prices are sometimes very different, change significantly and the background is difficult for customers to understand. At the beginning of July, the Monopolies Commission, an advisory body to the federal government, spoke out in favor of a price cap for district heating. District heating providers are therefore in most cases monopolists.
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