Europe 1 5:57 p.m., November 30, 2022

In a circular sent to the prefects, the government drew up a list of instructions to be applied in the event that power cuts take place this winter.

A solution intended to fight against tensions on the electrical network but which would lead to power cuts which could last several hours.

The government is preparing for winter power cuts.

So much so that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne sent the prefects a circular containing a whole bunch of instructions to be applied in the event of load shedding.

If this solution were to be adopted, power outages that could exceed two hours will occur during peak consumption.

The emergency services will then be unreachable by the traditional telephone route and the internet will no longer be available.

The network will also be disrupted during the recovery.  

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To guard against such a scenario, the government has enjoined the prefects to maintain a physical presence in town halls 24 hours a day in order to direct the population to the emergency services.

In addition, a crisis cell will have to be set up.

Two hours before the cuts but also two hours after, the human presence will also have to be reinforced in the centers welcoming emergency calls. 

No school on the entire half-day concerned 

The prefects will also have to encourage the population to stand alongside vulnerable people in order to refer them to the emergency services.

These people will also be informed of load shedding the day before or even three days earlier.

On the school component, the establishments will not welcome the pupils for the whole of the half-day concerned by a possible load shedding.

All the areas affected by these cuts will be known the evening before on the Ecowatt site, the RTE platform. 

Finally, note that the judgments of the prefects will be made confidential in order to avoid any risk of espionage.

Awareness campaigns for companies and communities will have to be set up by the prefects. 

>> More information to follow...