To relieve gas customers, Bremen's mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) calls on the federal government to improve the promised energy aid. It is correct that the federal government wants to cap the gas price. "But the cap comes too late in March, at the end of the heating season for many households and also for many companies," said Bovenschulte of the German Press Agency. "The federal government must therefore either implement the cap earlier or - if this is not possible in terms of time - not only as planned for December, but also take over the deduction on the gas bill for another month."

The expert commission set up by the government presented a phased model at the beginning of the week. This provides for a one-time payment this December and a gas price brake for private households and small and medium-sized companies as well as for industrial consumers in the coming year. The cap is scheduled to start in March 2023. This gas price brake should be a central rescue instrument of the federal government in the energy crisis.

"The exploding energy prices and persistently high inflation have been putting an enormous strain on people and companies in our country for weeks - families, single parents and households with small and medium incomes in particular are groaning in the face of the increased costs, but also craft businesses and companies with a relevant energy requirement," said Bovenschulte . If the promised aid did not come sooner, many households and companies would no longer know how to pay their bills at the end of winter.