Giffey on energy prices: Senate wants to help people in need

Franziska Giffey, Governing Mayor of Berlin

Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey has confirmed that the Senate wants to support citizens in coping with the sharp rise in energy prices.

The SPD politician told RBB-Inforadio on Wednesday that the aim was to talk about how the state could help people in a targeted way in addition to the federal government's relief measures.

Special attention to pensioners and low-income earners

Details have not yet been finalised. "In any case, it will be a hardship regulation, not a scattergun approach," said Giffey. However, the state still has to wait a bit to see exactly what the federal government will do. Then we can be on display to see what else the state can do for people in need. "At the moment, I am displaying pensioners and low-income earners in particular as groups to which we are paying special attention.

380 million euros planned to cushion high energy prices

So far, 380 million euros have been earmarked in Berlin's budget as part of a crisis fund to cushion high energy prices. However, the sum could still be increased. "We will now determine the exact implementation of this crisis fund very soon," said Giffey. The Senate Department of Finance is working on a concept for this. The fund is not only about cushioning additional costs for citizens, but also for the public sector. The state has a large number of buildings at its disposal.

Energy saving plan: Senate wants to reduce energy consumption by at least ten per cent

Against this backdrop, on Tuesday the Senate passed a programme to save energy in public areas. There, the following now applies: room temperatures are lowered, lights are switched off, hot water is turned off. The goal is to reduce energy consumption by at least ten per cent.