Germany: Fearing Russia cuts, regulator asks people to prepare for possible gas shortage

The head of Germany's regulatory body for energy is urging citizens to conserve energy and get ready for winter, when use rises, out of concern that Russia may cut off natural gas supplies. Klaus Mueller, president of the Federal Network Agency urged homeowners and renters to increase the efficiency of their gas boilers and radiators by getting them checked and adjusted.

"Maintenance can reduce gas consumption by 10% to 15%,” Mueller told Funke Mediengruppe, a German newspaper and magazine publisher.

Residents and property owners should use the twelve weeks before the arrival of the cold weather to prepare, according to Mueller. He advised discussing with the family whether every room needs to be set at its usual temperature in the winter or whether some rooms can be a little colder as soon as possible.

The appeal was made after Russia reduced gas supplies to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia earlier this month, as nations in the European Union rushed to restock storage facilities with fuel needed to produce electricity, run industries, and heat homes in the winter.

Germany's gas shortage

A technical issue was cited by state-owned energy company Gazprom in Russia for the decrease in natural gas flowing through Nord Stream 1, a pipeline that crosses the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. The company claimed that Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine had prevented equipment from being refurbished in Canada.

German officials have rejected that justification and labelled the reductions a political reaction to the sanctions the EU imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Robert Habeck, Germany's vice chancellor, economy and climate minister, and minister in charge of energy, has warned that a "blockade" of the pipeline is possible beginning on July 11, when routine maintenance work is scheduled to begin.

According to him, in previous summers, the work required closing Nord Stream 1 for about 10 days. The issue is whether the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline's upcoming routine maintenance will develop into "a longer-lasting political maintenance," according to Mueller of the energy regulator. "We will need to take savings more seriously if the gas flow from Russia is to be lowered for a longer period of time," he said.

(With inputs from AP)