The Dutch cabinet wants to end the situation in which consumers carry the multibillion-euro cost of gas storage, according to NOS. The plan would redistribute those costs more fairly, NU reports. The proposal also would require gas suppliers to hold winter reserves, according to AD.nl.
The discussion comes as Gasunie, the state-owned gas infrastructure operator, says a two-week emergency gas supply is not enough, the Noordhollands Dagblad reports. De Telegraaf has opened a reader debate on whether Dutch gas policy needs an overhaul.
Under the current arrangement, the expense of maintaining stored gas falls on households and other consumers. The cabinet's plan would move part of that burden onto gas suppliers by obliging them to keep winter stock on hand, AD.nl reports. NU frames the change as a bid to spread the costs more evenly.
The reporting does not specify the size of the costs involved, the timeline for any change, or how the obligation on suppliers would be enforced. It also does not say whether the cabinet has settled on a final proposal or how parliament might respond.
Gasunie's warning about the two-week buffer adds a supply-security dimension to the cost debate. The company's position, as reported by the Noordhollands Dagblad, is that the current emergency reserve level is insufficient.
What to watch next: whether the cabinet publishes a concrete legislative proposal, and how gas suppliers and parliament react to the plan to shift storage costs onto them.
