Overview
- New VKU survey results show 19% of responding municipal utilities intend to retire local gas networks, 46% are undecided, and the poll covered 164 of 609 contacted operators.
- Current law (EnWG) prevents routine shutdowns, but an EU directive on decarbonizing or decommissioning gas grids is adopted and could be transposed into German law by spring or summer 2026.
- Municipal heat plans are due by mid‑2026 for large cities and mid‑2028 elsewhere, are strategic rather than binding, and cities like Oberhausen are already scheduling citizen dialogues in November 2025.
- After a local heat plan is published, newly installed systems must supply at least 65% renewable heat, the 30‑year boiler replacement rule still applies, and breakdown cases allow temporary gas solutions with five to 13 years to convert.
- Reporting warns that fossil heating will grow more expensive as CO₂ pricing rises, subsidies up to €21,000 or 70% are available now, and experts caution that green gases will be limited and that district heating expansion will be uneven.