Who's going to pay for it? Costs are NL residents' main energy transition concern

Netherlands residents see the need for the energy transition, and most want to heat their homes in a sustainable way, but the costs of switching to a heat pump or heat network and who will cover these costs can be an obstacle. If sustainability plans come across as expensive or unfair, 30 to 50 percent of Dutch will file an objection to them, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) found in a survey of over 2,000 people.

The PBL investigated what obstacles stood in the way of the goal to get neighborhoods off the natural gas network. It found that unconcern or disinterest was not the problem. 88 percent of Netherlands residents would like to be less dependent on other countries for energy, and 76 percent consider climate change a big problem. A large majority consider gas-free heating a measure that would help both those concerns.

“Citizens endorse the importance of natural gas-free heating but have difficulty with the concrete implementation of the policy, particularly in terms of affordability and cost distribution,” PBL said. Up to half of Dutch said they would file a protest against sustainability plans if they are not affordable and fair. Shoddy information provision can increase that resistance significantly, the agency found.

Most Netherlands residents consider it the government’s job to arrange the energy transition, but few have confidence that the government can actually achieve this. More than half of respondents have little confidence in the government when it comes to climate. They feel that the government doesn’t provide open and clear information about their energy transition plans without holding anything back, and they also don't think the government takes their interests into account.

According to the PBL, Netherlands residents attach importance to the affordability of gas-free heating and want the government to ensure that the strongest shoulders bear the heaviest burdens, and no one gets left behind. “Citizens' concerns about affordability and cost distribution are not addressed by the current policy, and citizens do not expect this to be properly arranged in the future.”

Inconsistency plays a big role in this lack of confidence, the PBL said. Many respondents referred to the ever-changing policy regarding the netting scheme for solar power - the previous government wanted to phase out the scheme, then the Senate scrapped that plan, and now the new Cabinet wants to abolish it in 2027.

“This is important because we expect that citizens who do not trust the authorities that make the policy will be skeptical about the district plans within the natural gas-free policy,” PBL said. “There is also a chance that they will not be willing to invest themselves.”