Greener Living
France to Fine Stores for Leaving Their Lights on Too Long
- Government offers thermostat subsidies, limits lighting hours
- Minister targets structural decline in energy consumption
Stores along a road leading to the national opera house in Paris, France.
Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
France unveiled a series of measures, including subsidies for home thermostats and restrictions on store lighting hours, to ensure energy consumption maintains its downward trend.
The steps supplement last year’s sweeping plan to cut heating and power use in the public and private sectors, after Russia squeezed gas deliveries to Europe and French nuclear reactors suffered prolonged outages. While energy prices have declined from last year’s record, the region is still struggling with elevated power bills, as it steps up the fight against climate change.