Mélina Facchin 08h13, January 05, 2023
Close its town hall one more day a week to save heating: faced with rising energy prices, this is the choice made by the municipality of Saverne in the Bas-Rhin.
According to the mayor's estimates, in 2023, the bills of this city of 12,000 inhabitants will be multiplied by four if nothing changes.
Individuals, professionals, communities... Inflation continues to hit everyone hard, despite a slowdown in its progress in December 2022. As a result, everyone is adapting to try to reduce their bills.
In the Bas-Rhin, the town of Saverne, 12,000 inhabitants, has thus decided to close its town hall one more day per week – Friday – until March 31 to save heating.
In the town of Saverne, a small poster alerts visitors to the town hall's schedule changes. Photo credits: Mélina Facchin
Gas and electricity bills that quadruple!
"We expected it to be complicated, but not so much," summarizes Stéphane Leyenberger, the mayor of the city.
The chosen one has done his calculations and with his new electricity contract dated January 1, 2023, this year, his energy bills should more than quadruple!
"Usually, we have an energy budget of 400,000 to 500,000 per year," he says.
"But in 2023, if we continue to consume as before, we will suffer an increase of an additional 1.6 million euros!", He exclaims.
So to deal with this dizzying increase, solutions had to be found, in particular closing the town hall on Fridays.
"Cutting the heating on a Friday evening to turn it on again on Sunday evening is too short a period of time to make real savings. It costs almost more to stop it and restart it", explains Stéphane Leyenberger at the microphone. 'Europe 1. "We estimate that if we can do it over three days, we will already have tangible results", he adds, specifying that the employees of the town hall will continue to work 35 hours a week, but in four days now .
A whole swath of other sobriety measures
This decision is in addition to a whole range of other sobriety measures: the thermostat at 19 degrees in municipal premises, even 15 degrees in gymnasiums, the extinction of public lighting from 9 p.m. (compared to midnight previously) and until 6 a.m. the next morning, the postponement of certain events in the spring, a "less energy-intensive" season.
With all his efforts, the mayor of Saverne hopes to make "about 400,000 euros in savings".
He is also counting on aid promised by the State and on an automatic increase in the property tax of 7% to replenish his coffers a little.
“We hope to limit the impact of the rise in energy prices to twice a normal year, rather than fourfold”, explains Stéphane Leyenberger at the microphone of Europe 1. “It is nevertheless absurd to glad to only double the energy costs, which is already huge," he sighs.
But "no choice", otherwise electricity and gas will represent 10% of the 2023 budget of his municipality.