PARIS – The race to save energy continues in France. Many French cities, like Paris, have decided to save on public lighting in the city and the heating of their buildings to cope with the increase in energy bills. The City of Light has already confirmed the reduction of the night lighting of the Eiffel Tower by just over an hour. It is more of a symbolic act, because the expenses of lighting the Tower represent only 4% of the energy consumption of the monument.
One of the most important measures is implemented in the city of Lille, the big city of French Flanders, in the north of the country, which, from this month, turned off all lights in public buildings , with the exception of the famous Grand Place and the Place de l’Opéra. These cuts, according to the municipality, will save 170,000 kWh per year.
On the other side of the country, in the port city of Marseille, a different measure has been adopted. All the lights of the monuments are switched off at 11:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. in winter), with the exception of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde basilica (nicknamed the Good Mother), symbol of the city. The municipality of Toulon wants to adopt similar measures “as soon as possible”.
In addition, there are many initiatives to reduce heating. In the city of Lille, two museums will lower their heating from 20°C to 18°C. A similar reduction will take place in public swimming pools and a two-hour heating cut will be applied to sports halls. In the city of Lyon, the second in the country, an order has been issued to limit the heating of its buildings to 19°C to meet the energy bill which, according to estimates, will increase from 55 to 100 million euros in 2023.
Following President Emmanuel Macron’s call to action for “energy sobriety” to overcome the effects of war in Ukraine, similar announcements are likely to spread across the country in the days and weeks to come.
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