Public buildings lighting turns off in French city of Lille amid energy crunch

French officials in the city of Lille have cut the lighting in public buildings in a bid to decrease power consumption as the nation head to a difficult cold season amid the continent’s energy crunch.

According to Press TV, media reports on Saturday said the power austerity measures, which began in the northern French city on Monday, had reduced energy consumption by seven percent.

“We wished to quickly announce energy sobriety measures, and among the easiest to put in place was (to stop) lighting public buildings, because it was painless for Lille residents, although it was symbolic for us,” Deputy to the Lille Mayor in Charge of Ecological Transition Audrey Linkenheld said.

“We have around ten municipal buildings that are lit up … and we know that they consume energy. And even though the consumption was not significant, it was important for us to give a signal.”

“The fact that we have reduced lighting allows us to save 170,000 kilowatt hours, or around 30,000 Euros,” Linkenheld noted.

Other austerity measures by city officials included lowering temperatures in most public buildings and pools, closing the city’s tropical garden and closing two fountains.

Linkenheld pointed out in a news conference on Thursday that the measures had decreased consumption by around seven million kilowatt/hours and saved the municipality around one million Euros, in total.

Meanwhile, the French city of Nantes has taken similar measures and reduced heating in public buildings. Other cities — such as Paris, Strasbourg or Reims — are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks as the energy crunch exacerbates across Europe.

Also in Sweden, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned last week that a difficult winter and dangerous disruptions threatened Europeans this coming winter.

Andersson said “war winter” was ahead, linking Europe’s energy crisis to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.