French ‘Energy Sobriety’

“The national effort calls for businesses and individuals to embrace energy conservation by increasing car-pooling, lowering thermostats and shutting off illuminated advertising signs at night — to name a few — or face the risk of rolling blackouts or energy rationing.”

The New York Times story on September 5, 2022 by Liz Alderman also offered this sub-title: The government is helping residents with soaring gas and electric costs, but some businesses are already shutting down amid fears of rationing and blackouts.

France faces an energy crisis of its own, as its nuclear industry addresses cracks, corrosion and other troubles that have forced EDF to temporarily shut down 32 of France’s 56 nuclear reactors. The outages at EDF, which is also Europe’s biggest electricity exporter, have sent France’s nuclear power output plunging to its lowest level in nearly three decades. France now faces the unsettling prospect of initiating rolling blackouts in winter and having to import power or resort to coal-fired plants to meet its energy needs.

NY Times reporter Liz Alderman

Plans to save energy in France include:

• keep thermostats at 66 degrees Fahrenheit
• increase the use of public transportation
• restrict public lighting
• refrain from running washers at night
• close swimming pools intermittently
• close museums two days a week instead of one
• use wood-burning furnaces for heat in some schools

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