On the Champs-Elysées, emblematic place of the Parisian magic of the end of the year, "it will be between 50 or 60 euros per day of electricity consumption for the 4 km of illuminations, the 2,000 light points of each tree being the equivalent of a filament bulb of yesteryear", summarizes to AFP Johan Hugues, co-director general of Blachère Illumination, European leader in the sector based in Vaucluse.

"Between 2006 and 2021, thanks in particular to the installation of LED lighting", i.e. light-emitting diodes, "the electricity required will have been reduced by 97%. The 2022 illuminations will only mobilize the annual consumption of a household of 3/4 occupants", wishes to specify the committee of the Champs-Elysées, organizer of the event which represents the stores, cinemas, hotels and other companies present on the famous avenue.

Sometimes wrongly considered as an energy mismanagement, Christmas light decorations "it's 0.2% on the annual bill of a municipality" in electricity, highlights Julien Arnal, president of the Lighting Union.

According to him, "everyone must make an effort, but you have to know how to keep reason without being in a kind of cabal against lighting that weighs nothing. During the holiday season, some municipalities make 30% of their annual economic activity" , thanks to the Christmas markets for example.

The Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe) recognizes that LEDs "have made it possible to drastically reduce consumption", but judges that "all actions aimed at reducing the periods of illumination, the intensity of these, the number of garlands counts. Admittedly, the impact may seem small, but everyone sees it and it is important to show that everyone is taking action to reduce electricity consumption", notes expert Bruno Lafitte.

No "black Christmas"

At Blachère Illumination, Johan Hugues does not believe for a second in "an all black Christmas: there are not many cities that will do it. That there are budget cuts or adaptations is normal, for the image, and also for a question of balancing the budget, electricity being more expensive".

Several large cities have already announced that they will tighten the lighting of their festive garlands over time, or even their number, like Strasbourg, Libourne, Bordeaux, Nice, Caen or even Le Havre.

In Limeil-Brévannes (Val-de-Marne, 23,000 inhabitants), there is no question of deleting "this convivial moment, it would penalize the population and add to the ambient slump, and we must not let people think that it is by measures that we will cross the abyss that awaits us if the tariff shield is not put in place for the municipalities", underlines Julien Laudet-Haddad, director of cabinet of the mayor Françoise Lecoufle.

"Talking about the consumption of illuminations is a non-issue, it's +peanuts+", he specifies, adding that they will remain lit at night "because if we wanted to modulate the period of illumination, we would have to add modules costing 50,000 euros!".

In Boussy-Saint-Antoine (Essonne, 8,000 inhabitants), on the other hand, they will remain in the closet this year: "it is not so much linked to consumption - because we are in LED and it is quite minimal - but it is especially the cost of assembly-disassembly, rental of equipment and nacelles which amounts to 70,000 euros, which corresponds to a month and a half of heating, of the gymnasium and schools for example”, explains the mayor Romain Colas.

"As our gas bill will be multiplied on January 1", which will weigh down the budget, "we must anticipate and re-examine the expenses which are of an optional nature", he underlines, while acknowledging that "some citizens will be saddened".

© 2022 AFP