Dirk Cieslak, "How Much Does Our Gas Cost?"

Assemble a bewildering hodgepodge of consultants, experts, agencies, and private and public associations—each of whom whines and complains a lot on their own, but all of whom agree that they want to make a lot of money from heat.

Hang around in state legislatures and government ministries. Hire an army of lawyers, business consultants, and experts who shape an absurd world of negligence and legitimate enrichment.

Dump buckets full of communication sludge, ramble on about safety, and establish a toothless consulting industry that drives tenants—trapped by monopolies and contracts—into resignation. This creates a special economic zone shielded by ignorance and a sense of power, in which individual tenants flounder. All the while, they are bombarded from all directions—for better or for worse—by a cacophony that sings of the hopelessness that everything is too much, too complicated, and too specialized, so that it has become completely crazy and incomprehensible. But from afar, the wild chants of the aggrieved tenants can already be heard drawing nearer.

In Germany, ten million households—both renters and homeowners—are connected to district heating or are supplied with heat through heat contracting by external service providers.

Their landlord demanded several thousand euros in back payments for the heat supplied in 2022. This demand far exceeded the actual increases in gas prices. For them, this crossed a red line. They set out: to the boiler room, to counseling centers, government agencies, experts, political parties, and lawmakers, to shed light on the matter.