Across Europe, Gas-Strapped Cities Prepare to Power Down
Energy-saving limits on lighting and air-conditioner use have drawn heat in Spain, France and Germany.
Air-conditioning units on the facade of a building during a heat wave in Seville, Spain, in June.
Photographer: Marcelo del Pozo/BloombergFollowing arguments last week from a suitably tie-less Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain published new rules Tuesday stipulating that no business will be allowed to cool its interior below 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) or to heat it above 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter. In place until November 2023, the decree also calls a halt to the illumination of monuments, bans stores from lighting up their windows after 10 p.m., and requires shops to have an electric display showing the temperature inside to passersby.
Such curbs are not entirely new — public buildings in Spain, except hospitals, already follow a 27-degree cooling cap — but the extensive reach of this suite of power-saving measures reflects the seriousness of a looming threat: an energy crisis brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.