As energy bills mount and the threat of rationing increases, some European retailers are turning off lights and considering shorter opening hours this winter.
Energy bosses and government officials have urged people and businesses to reduce power use and put in place contingency plans so they are less reliant on gas imports if there are shortages linked to the war in Ukraine.
The Austrian branch of multinational retail chain SPAR Group is reducing the hours of lighting for storefront advertising and outside its more than 1,500 stores across the country, a spokesperson said in an email.
The move will reduce the retailer’s energy consumption by one million kilowatt hours annually, the spokesperson said, without saying how much money this would save.
In Paris, the boss of Leclerc warned on Monday that the supermarket chain, France’s largest food retailer, could reduce the opening hours of its stores as part of emergency measures to deal with the risk of power shortages linked to the war in Ukraine.
“For this winter we have a crisis scenario where Russia cuts gas supplies,” Michel-Edouard Leclerc told France Info radio.
Under that scenario, “We could close some stores during certain hours,” he said.
Last month, the boss of Leclerc warned that France’s largest food retailer could reduce opening hours at its stores to deal with power shortages.
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