BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany will enter Phase 2 of its three-stage emergency gas plan on Thursday, a source close to the matter told Reuters.
The alarm stage, planned for when the government sees a high risk of long-term supply shortages of gas, theoretically enables utilities to pass on high prices to customers and thereby help to lower demand.
But people familiar with the matter told Reuters that the German network regulator would not yet trigger that clause. [S8N2XQ048]
The Economy Ministry declined to make a statement before a planned news conference at 0800 GMT.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen and Christian KraemerWriting by Miranda Murray and Christoph SteitzEditing by David Goodman)
