The German district council welcomed the key points of the new heating law as a step in the right direction. “The agreed changes to the heating law are a correct step and had been promised” chief executive Kay Ruge told the Editorial Network Germany. “That the correction now happens in this manner is good and reflects the living reality of millions of people”.
He added that greater openness to technology, less bureaucracy, and closer connection to practical realities are urgently needed. “From the counties’ point of view it is especially important that municipal heat planning remains a strategic instrument, while-particularly for smaller municipalities-becoming simpler and more manageable” he said. This agenda had been announced by the Union and SPD in their key‑points paper.
Ruge also stressed the need for planning certainty and warned against new burdens. “Planning certainty is crucial; politics have eroded much trust on this issue in recent years” he criticized. “What matters is that the announced amendments are practically viable in the legislative process and do not create new burdens for citizens and municipalities”.
Monika Schnitzer, the head of the Munich research institute Wirtschaftsweisen, sharply criticized the coalition’s plans for a new heating law. She said opening the market to gas and oil heating introduces “new uncertainties”. “It is impossible to predict whether climate‑friendly fuels will be available at competitive prices in the future. Moreover, the European emissions trading scheme will significantly raise the cost of fossil heating. Gas and oil heating could therefore become a cost trap in the long run” she warned.
To reduce uncertainty Schnitzer suggested making the transition to climate‑friendly technologies reliably cheaper by cutting bureaucratic hurdles, also in subsidies. “This would enable heating builders and the heating industry to scale up production and ultimately drive prices down” she proposed.