WSJ: EC will propose to reduce electricity consumption by ten percent

MOSCOW, September 9 — PRIME. The European Commission is going to propose to each EU country to reduce the total electricity consumption by 10%, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing a relevant document.

“The draft document … proposes that each country aims to reduce overall electricity consumption by at least 10%. The authorities should also determine the hours of peak prices and reduce electricity consumption by an average of at least 5% during these hours,” the newspaper writes.

The newspaper recalls that this summer the EU agreed on a plan for member countries to reduce overall gas consumption by 15% within eight months, with the option to make this goal mandatory. The plan to save electricity could be modeled after the previous plan, which focused on gas, officials said.

Diplomats said many countries, including Germany and France, also agreed ahead of Friday’s meeting with the idea of ​​imposing limits on income earned by non-gas power producers and redistributing that money to businesses and consumers, the newspaper said.

According to the publication, the ministers want to counter the destruction of electricity markets by high prices and plan to provide emergency loans to traders or change the rules for collateral required in electricity trading.