Hamburg Official Tells Residents Prepare For Hot Water Rationing Amid Energy Crisis

The second-largest city in Germany is mulling over the potential rationing of hot water as the energy crisis worsens.

“In an acute gas shortage, warm water could only be made available at certain times of the day in an emergency,” Hamburg’s environment senator Jens Kerstan told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Saturday.

Kerstan also spoke with the German daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt and warned, “We are in a much worse crisis than most people realize.” 

He asked Hamburg residents to reduce shower times, install energy-saving shower heads, and modernize thermostats for maximum power savings.

“The more we save now, the better the situation will be in winter because the storage tanks fill up,” he added, referring to the need to save power so more NatGas injections can be made into storage ahead of the winter season. 

Kerstan’s possible hot water restrictions follow German Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck’s interview with Der Spiegel magazine last month that called for German citizens to shower less to overcome the worst energy crisis in a generation. – READ MORE