As Russia tightens its chokehold on Europe's energy supplies, France is embarking on its biggest energy-conservation effort since the 1970s oil crisis—glass furnaces are idling, streetlamps and outdoor lighting is turned off; schools will use wood for heating
A factory making iconic French bistro glasses is idling its furnaces to offset soaring energy costs. Cities around France are turning off streetlamps and other outdoor lighting to curb electricity use. In Normandy, some schools will start heating classrooms by burning wood to conserve natural gas.As Russia tightens its chokehold on Europe’s energy supplies, France is embarking on its biggest energy-conservation effort since the 1970s oil crisis. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is calling on the French to prepare for a new era of energy “sobriety” to face down the threat of a hard winter, while reassuring households and businesses about the government’s ability to protect them.“We have been confronted with a series of crises, one more grave than the other,” Macron said in a televised speech to the nation late last month. “The picture that I’m painting is one of the end of abundance,” he added. “We have reached a tipping point.” The national effort calls for businesses and individuals to embrace energy conservation by increasing carpooling, lowering thermostats and shutting off illuminated advertising signs at night — to name a few — or face the risk of rolling blackouts or energy rationing.On Friday, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, energy transition minister, sought to reassure wary citizens, saying the government would try to “avoid restrictive measures” over energy use in the peak winter cold season.The government has been spending lavishly — more than 26 billion euros ($26 billion) since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — to keep gas and electric bills affordable, and last week it announced that its cap on household energy bills would be extended until the end of the year. The moves to control energy costs, including the renationalization of energy provider EDF, have helped give France one of the lowest inflation rates in Europe, at 6.5%. (The overall eurozone rate for August was 9.1%.)But with food and fuel costs still straining French families, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has called on businesses to make the bulk of the nation’s energy savings — fast. Companies will be required to cut their energy use by 10% or face enforced rationing of electricity and gas.Businesses will have to appoint an “ambassador of energy sobriety” this month, and present blueprints to the government for cutting their electricity consumption.Also read: Why Europe's electricity prices are soaring
©2019 New York Times News Service