If Russia stopped supplying gas completely, nine out of ten (89 percent) citizens in Germany would willingly limit their gas consumption. This is the result of a representative survey commissioned by the comparison portal Verivox, which is exclusively available to WELT AM SONNTAG.
For around 30 percent of those surveyed, it would therefore be acceptable to switch off the heating at night. Another third said they could go without heating for between one and four hours a day. In contrast, eight percent of citizens would leave their heating unused for up to six hours or up to eight hours a day.
However, the willingness to save differs depending on the living situation. Accordingly, tenants are generally more willing to make restrictions than owners. Likewise, younger people would turn off the heating more often than older people.
The expectations of many citizens are likely to increase the willingness to save. 63 percent of those surveyed consider it likely that Russia will completely stop gas supplies, with a quarter even saying it is “very likely”.
Only around twelve percent do not expect it. About one in four is undecided on this question. For the representative survey, Verivox interviewed a total of 1006 people aged between 18 and 69 in June.
Most recently, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, called for energy saving. Due to the already significantly reduced gas supply volumes from Russia, Habeck announced the second of three stages of the national gas emergency plan on Thursday. For the time being, however, the federal government refrained from taking a measure that would have enabled energy suppliers to raise prices immediately.
