Everyone has the right to affordable energy. That is why the municipality intends to set up a public heating company together with Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and NetVerder. With this new heating company, the municipality wants to provide homes and other buildings with sustainable, affordable and reliable heating. This is a concrete step in accelerating the heating transition in the city. However, the central government must ensure that the preconditions are in place so that the heating remains affordable. The proposal, which is now being submitted to the municipal council, is in line with the bill for the Collective Heating Act, which stipulates that heating companies must be majority-publicly owned.
The plan is that the municipality will become a third party owner after a positive council decision, just like EBN and NetVerder. This ensures that the municipality has influence on important choices that need to be made, such as where the heating network will be first, which sustainable sources will be used and how the collaboration with residents will be shaped. The heating company will connect neighborhoods to a sustainable heating network in phases. In the coming ten years, the heating company could connect 24,000 homes in The Hague.
What does this mean for residents?
For residents, this means a clear step towards a natural gas-free future. For large parts of The Hague, a heating network is the best solution. With a public heating company, residents can count on transparent prices and a favourable ratio between fixed and variable costs. In addition, the municipality does not want the heating network to cost more than burning gas. Incidentally, residents’ initiatives can still develop their own heating solution and they will receive support from the municipality in developing it.
” We are taking an important step towards a sustainable city. By participating ourselves, we can better manage and ensure affordable heat, sustainability and cooperation with residents. Energy is not a luxury, but a basic need. It is our duty to ensure that we become less dependent on natural gas and that no one is left out in the cold due to excessively high energy costs “, says alderman Kapteijns (Energy Transition).
Legislation as a guarantee for affordability
The central government is currently working on legislation that will ensure that rates remain fair and affordable. This was announced by the Minister of Climate and Green Growth. The government has also promised a guarantee fund with which a public heating company can borrow money at a low interest rate. This will limit the costs for the construction of heating networks. In addition, there may be additional subsidies for residents who have to adapt their homes for connection to the heating network.
In short: for an affordable heat tariff, fixed charge and contribution to the connection costs, the intended legislation is necessary. Only if that is arranged, the board is prepared to invest in a heating company in The Hague. For EBN, it applies that it can only join if the Collective Heat Act is adopted and the Minister, as intended, designates EBN as the National Participation Heat. NetVerder has already taken successful steps in Delft, among other places, where the construction of an affordable heating network for 6,000 homes in existing buildings was recently started.
What now?
The starting point is that all three partners each contribute a third of their own capital. The municipality of The Hague is now reserving 30 million euros for the start-up of the public heating company.
The plan for the heating company will be further elaborated in the coming months. This includes the organisation, the cooperation with residents, the costs and the planning per district. Only then will the final decision on the establishment follow.
Text: Gemeente Den Haag
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/radiator-heating-flat-radiators-250558/