Watch: EU Proposes Electricity Limits During Peak Hours To ‘Flatten The Curve’
The European Commission has proposed a mandatory reduction in electricity use during peak hours, insisting the EU must “flatten the curve” and avoid peak demands.
“What has changed over the summer, because of the elements I was just mentioning, is that we see that there is a global scarcity of energy,” European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen said today.
“So whatever we do, one thing is for sure: We have to save electricity, but we have to save it in a smart way. If you look at the costs of electricity, there are peak demands.”
“And this is what is expensive, because, in these peak demands, the expensive gas comes into the market. So what we have to do is to flatten the curve and avoid the peak demands. We will propose a mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours. And we will work very closely with the Member States to achieve this.”
Von Der Leyen also proposed a revenue cap on companies that produce electricity with low costs, windfall taxes for oil and gas companies that have made “massive profits”, and liquidity support for energy utility companies to allow them to keep trading and ensure the stability of futures markets.
The fifth proposal is a price cap on Russian gas, even though Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned Moscow would react to such a cap by completely halting gas supplies.
“We all know that our sanctions are deeply grinding into the Russian economy, with a heavy negative impact,” von der Leyen said. “But Putin is partially buffering through fossil fuel revenues.”
“So here, the objective is: We must cut Russia’s revenues, which Putin uses to finance his atrocious war in Ukraine. And now our work of the last months really pays off. Because, at the beginning of the war, if you looked at the imported gas, 40% of it was Russian gas, since a long time. Today, we are down to 9% only.”
EU member states will discuss these proposals at an informal Energy Ministers Council on Friday, with Malta set to be represented by Miriam Dalli.
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