Low-income households can now turn to the so-called Temporary Emergency Fund for Energy. That reports the Ministry of Social Affairs Tuesday. Financially vulnerable households can apply for partial compensation for the high energy costs from the fund, set up by the government and the energy sector. This provided that their energy bills represent a relatively large part of their income.
At least hundreds of thousands of Dutch people would be eligible for this, the organization of the Emergency Fund estimates. Single people with a gross income of less than 2,980 euros can make use of the fund. People who live together are also eligible, provided they earn less than 3,794 euros gross. The energy bill must be at least 10 percent of the income. The Emergency Fund will then pay back part of the energy bill from October 2022 to March 2023. For the lowest incomes, everything above this percentage is reimbursed, for the somewhat higher incomes it is slightly less.
Households can now apply for support from the Emergency Fund for the entire winter period. The payment will be made within one month after an entry has been approved and will be made through the energy supplier of the household. Energy companies and the government already announced the arrival of the emergency fund last autumn. The government will contribute a maximum of 50 million euros and 24.5 million euros will come from the energy sector.
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