Germany raises alarm over natural gas crisis

Germany triggered the second stage of its three-step emergency gas plan Thursday, warning Germans that the country is in a crisis that could worsen in coming months.

“The situation is serious and winter will come,” Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, told reporters in Berlin. The plan’s third step would permit the government to begin gas rationing.

“Even if you don’t feel it yet: We are in a gas crisis,” he said. “Gas is a scarce commodity from now on.”

The announcement comes a week after Russian’s state energy giant, Gazprom, reduced the amount of natural gas it was delivering to Germany by 60%, in what appeared to be the latest move to punish Europe for sanctions and military support for Ukraine.

Habeck called Gazprom’s cutbacks a deliberate economic attack by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It is obviously Putin’s strategy to create insecurity, drive up prices and divide us as a society,” he said.

Since late March, when Germany entered the first phase of its plan, the government has focused on increasing its gas storage, which is at more than 58% capacity.

But activating the second stage of the emergency plan means the government sees a high risk of long-term supply shortages.

The German government approved a $15.7 billion line of credit Wednesday for utilities to purchase natural gas to fill storage facilities. In addition, the government plans to launch a program that would help the gas system cope by encouraging companies to suspend their use of gas temporarily. The unused fuel would then be made available for other industrial users for the cheapest price.

But the government decided against allowing gas providers to pass on the soaring costs of energy to customers, after businesses pushed back against the measure.

German companies have been looking for alternative energy sources and ways to save gas, and Habeck said they reduced their use by around 8% in recent weeks.