France urged to prepare for a “hard winter” amid energy shortages

PARIS, Aug 30 – PRIME. French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday urged French businesses to cut energy consumption and prepare for a “particularly tough winter,” BFMTV reported.

“We need to prepare for a scenario in which we will have a particularly harsh winter. We need to find ways to distribute the energy consumed by enterprises if we have to face particular difficulties this winter,” Le Maire said at a meeting with the Union of French Entrepreneurs (Medef).

A TV poll published on Tuesday showed that 58% of French people think it is possible to limit their energy consumption, while 38% said they already consume the minimum amount of electricity.

“Everyone needs to understand that it is necessary to reduce energy consumption – at home, in transport, at enterprises, in administration, in stores,” the minister stressed.

Le Maire added that state support for businesses whose gas and electricity bill exceeds 3% of their 2021 turnover will be extended until the end of December.

As previously reported by the LCI TV channel, 59% of the energy in France is consumed by enterprises, most of which is for lighting, air conditioning and heating.

The French government has already taken a number of drastic measures to save energy. So, for this purpose, the country expanded the ban on illuminated advertising, and shops were forbidden to keep the doors open when the air conditioner or heating system is running. Retail outlets must turn off illuminated signs and air ventilation at night, reduce the brightness of lighting by 50% before the arrival of customers, and by 30% during normal hours in case of a critical level of power consumption.