All about the energy sobriety plan that the government will unveil

Europe 1 3:18 p.m., October 05, 2022

An energy sobriety plan in 15 key measures: this is the government's strategy to allow the French to spend the winter in the best conditions.

Before the latter are unveiled on Wednesday, Europe 1 obtained this document, entitled "Energy sobriety plan: general mobilization".

Companies, communities, sport, households... Everyone is concerned.

Here are the main measures to remember.

Reduced heating in offices

First in offices, the government asks actors not to exceed a maximum temperature of 19 degrees.

They will have to lower it to 16 degrees at night, and eight degrees if the building has to be closed for three days or more.

Companies are also asked to postpone the start and / or end of the heating period by 15 days "when possible and when the outside temperature allows it", indicates the government.

This measure would generate a gain of 12% on heating consumption, promises the document.

Then, employees will have to reduce the use of domestic hot water, except when it is essential, such as for showers, for example.

“Managers will have the possibility of stopping the domestic hot water”, warns the government, which underlines that this measure is already applied in Germany.

How the State wants to be "exemplary"

In this energy sobriety plan, the executive wants to put forward an "exemplary state".

For this, he indicates that the heating should not exceed 18 degrees on average this winter in a period of Ecowatt red.

An “experiment” which “will take into account specific situations, within the framework of a local dialogue”, tempers the government.

It also encourages administrations to use telework to reduce fuel consumption.

“The agents will benefit from an increase in the flat-rate teleworking allowance of up to 15% in order to cover the increase in energy prices from the beginning of 2023”, adds the public authorities.

The government also wants to limit the speed on the highway to 110 km / h for agents who must take their service vehicle for non-urgent business trips.

This measure should save 20% fuel on this type of journey.

In the same logic, the executive recommends taking the train rather than the plane for professional journeys of less than four hours, as well as taking public transport rather than the car.

Reduction of public lighting by communities

A chapter is also addressed to local authorities.

The government is asking them to reduce electricity consumption linked to public lighting, which translates into "turning off the lights at certain times, reducing the light intensity, switching to LED lighting with automated control", proposes he.

If it is necessary to reduce the heating in the offices, it will be necessary to do the same in the sports facilities "by reducing the temperature of the gymnasiums by two degrees and the temperature of the water in the swimming pools by one degree", evokes the document, based on a recommendation from the National Association of Elected Sports Officials (Andes).

The government is also asking communities to reduce the number of heated square meters, "by grouping public services in more suitable premises, even if it means using them over longer time slots", recommends the executive.

Encourage private companies to get involved

To encourage private companies to adopt this energy sobriety plan, the State will create the platform "Les entreprises s'engage".

This will bring together those who make 16 commitments and who are supported in their deployment.

Among these commitments, there is the interruption of the interior lighting of buildings as soon as they are unoccupied, the reduction of interior lighting, in particular advertising lighting, and switching it off no later than one o'clock in the morning, or even the elimination of unnecessary travel.

Reduced lighting time for sporting events

In the world of sport, speakers will be asked to reduce the lighting time before and after the match by almost 50% for competitions taking place during the day, and by more than 30% for evening matches. advances the government which relies on the commitment of the Professional Football League (LFP), the National Rugby League (LNR), professional clubs and TV broadcasters.

A "sobriety bonus" to reward the French

The latest key measures put forward by the government concern the incentives given to the French to reduce their energy consumption.

First, the executive provides a "sobriety bonus".

"Households who control their energy consumption will be able to receive a bonus on gas and electricity bills from certain suppliers. Several energy companies undertake to offer this offer", recalls the government, which alludes in particular to EDF, TotalÉnergies or even Engie.

The document also refers to aid of up to 9,000 euros for the French who will switch from a gas boiler to a heat pump in individual housing.

It also offers "aid allowing a remaining charge of 250 euros on average per apartment to connect a collective housing building to a heating network, thanks to MaPrimeRenov'".

Finally, as France Télévisions and TF1 already have, the government wants to extend the information given to the French on the "electricity weather forecast", ie the Ecowatt signal, by asking the audiovisual and radio media to relay it as well.

In short, thanks to this sobriety plan, the State is advancing "the objective of reducing energy consumption by 10% at the national level".