French energy giants urge consumers to cut energy use

French energy giants urge consumers to cut energy use

The heads of France’s big energy companies on Sunday urged individuals and businesses to limit power consumption immediately to prepare for a looming energy crisis.

“We need to work collectively to reduce our consumption in order to regain room to manoeuvre,” the chief executives of Engie (ENGIE.PA), EDF (EDF.PA) and Total (TTEF.PA) said in an open letter published by weekly newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

The letter signed by Engie’s Catherine MacGregor, EDF’s Jean-Bernard Levy and TotalEnergies’ Patrick Pouyanne cited sharp declines in Russian gas shipments as well as limited electricity generation because of maintenance issues.

France aims to fill its gas storage facilities by early autumn, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Thursday. The country’s gas storage sites are 59% full at present.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown the spotlight on the Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, prompting a scramble to find alternative energy sources.

French media reported in March that the government was in talks with TotalEnergies about boosting capacity to receive LNG after the United States said it was prepared to increase deliveries to Europe.

“Taking action as soon as this summer will allow us to be better prepared at the start of next winter, notably for preserving our gas reserves,” the energy company executives said in their letter, adding that efforts to limit consumption should be “immediate, collective and massive”.

They cited their own efforts to find new sources of gas and build a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the northern port of Le Havre.

France recently extended its mechanism for regulating gas prices to the end of the year. Originally scheduled to run through to the end of June, the system is meant to limit the effects of soaring energy prices on cosumers’ purchasing power.

Source: Reuters

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Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor.   He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage, and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat. Energy should be used to elevate humanity out of poverty. Let's use all forms of energy with the least impact on the environment while being sustainable without printing money. Stu is also a co-host on the 3 Podcasters Walk into A Bar podcast with David Blackmon, and Rey Trevino. Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.