The European Union recommended to reduce energy consumption during peak hours

MOSCOW, 14 Sep — PRIME. The European authorities recommended that the EU member states reduce energy consumption by five percent during peak hours during the winter period, and the excess profits of energy companies should go to help the population. This was stated in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton.

“On electricity, it is recommended to pay attention to consumption, which is in the interests of individuals who pay bills. Then there is the issue of managing electricity demand peaks: Member States will decide how to reduce consumption through financial incentives for citizens and businesses, by reducing payment receipts. The reduction is 5% and serves to avoid the use of energy from fossil sources. This is a temporary recommendation that is used in order to get through the winter,” he said, noting that there are sufficient energy reserves in Europe for wintering.

According to Breton, the European Union was unable to cut off Russian gas supplies due to the dependence of some members of the community on them and now considers it necessary to diversify energy sources and introduce measures to control prices.

“Energy companies during this period enjoyed a domino effect with artificial profits that did not correspond to normal economic activity. So the first thing to do is to help Member States redistribute this money between households and enterprises, in particular between small and medium, which have very high production costs so that they do not stop production being no longer competitive,” said the European Commissioner.

Speaking about the proposal to impose a price ceiling on gas supplies to Europe, Breton stressed that the EU needs a few more days to discuss, taking into account the specifics of each of them.