A huge spike in natural gas prices triggered by Russia’s move last month to sharply cut supplies to Germany has plunged Europe’s largest economy into its worst energy crisis since the 1973 oil price shock. Gas importers and utilities are struggling to survive while consumer bills are going through the roof, with some warning of growing friction. “The situation is more than dramatic,” said Axel Gedaschko, head of the GdW association of German housing companies. “The social peace of Germany is in great danger.” As tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine escalate, officials fear the situation could worsen. On Monday, Russia shuts down its main pipeline to Germany, Nord Stream 1, for 10 days of scheduled maintenance. Many in Berlin fear it will never reopen. Germany last month took a crucial step toward curbing natural gas when Economy Minister Robert Habeck activated the second stage of the country’s natural gas emergency plan. “The situation in the natural gas market is tense and unfortunately we cannot guarantee that it will not worsen,” he said on Tuesday. “We have to be prepared for the situation to become critical.” Hambeck, who says he now takes shorter showers, appealed to the public to conserve energy — and municipalities and property owners heeded the call. On Thursday, Vonovia, the country’s biggest landlord, said it would reduce the temperature of its tenants’ gas central heating to 17 degrees Celsius between 11pm and 6am. He said the measure would save 8 percent on heating costs. A housing association in the Saxony town of Dippoldiswalde, near the Czech border, went a step further this week, saying it was cutting hot water supplies to tenants. From now on they can take a hot shower between 4am-8am, 11am-1pm. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. “As we announced at our general assembly, we have to save for the winter,” reads a notice to the affected blocks. Such measures may become routine in the coming weeks. Helmut Dedy, head of the German Association of Towns and Cities, said “the whole of society” must now reduce energy consumption by saving in the summer “so we have warm apartments in the winter”. “Every kilowatt-hour we save helps fill the gas tank a little more,” he said. Deddy appealed to councils up and down the country to take emergency action. He had a few suggestions: turn off the lights at night. turn off hot water in municipal buildings, museums and sports centers. Adjust the air conditioners; and stop lighting historic buildings. Some have already taken action. The district of Lahn-Dill, near Frankfurt, is turning off hot water in 86 schools and 60 gyms from mid-September, a move it hopes will save €100,000 in energy costs, and Dusseldorf has temporarily closed a huge swimming pool. complex, the Münster-Therme. Meanwhile, Berlin turned off the thermostat in outdoor pools, lowering their temperature by 2 degrees. In western Germany, Cologne reduces street lighting to 70% of full power from 11 p.m. Residential customers are also taking action, turning on wood stoves and fireplaces again. Sales of firewood, wood pellets and coal, as well as gas containers and cartridges have soared. It is unclear how much such measures will cushion the impact of higher heating bills. The GdW said the war in Ukraine would push up energy prices for consumers by between 71 percent and 200 percent, corresponding to additional annual costs of between €1,000 and €2,700 for a one-person household and up to €3,800 for four individuals. compared to 2021 levels.

The cost could rise even further as a result of a new law to be passed by the German parliament. This would allow the government to impose an emergency levy on all gas consumers to spread the cost of higher prices more evenly. It is designed to prevent the insolvency of natural gas importers, a scenario ministers fear could trigger a Lehman Brothers-style collapse of the entire industry. Uniper, Germany’s biggest importer of Russian gas, is already in talks with officials about a state bailout that experts say could reach 9 billion euros. German consumers—both industrial and residential—are reducing their energy use. A study by the Hertie School in Berlin reported that industrial gas consumption fell by 11% in March and April this year, compared to the same period in 2021, and by 6% in private households. Much more needs to be done, said Lion Hirth, one of the study’s co-authors. “The decline in demand that we have seen so far is, unfortunately, not sufficient to fully close the supply gap that threatens us this winter,” he said. In his appeal to German municipalities this week, Dedy made a similar observation. “The situation is very serious,” he said. “It is already clear that we will have to leave our comfort zone.”