Energy saving: the temperature is limited in shops and supermarkets but not in hairdressers

The demand by the European Commission to reduce energy consumption to respond to the Russian threat of a gas cut has materialized in Spain in the approval of a first package of urgent measures to fulfill the commitment made with Brussels.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
02 August 2022 Tuesday 05:57
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Energy saving: the temperature is limited in shops and supermarkets but not in hairdressers

The demand by the European Commission to reduce energy consumption to respond to the Russian threat of a gas cut has materialized in Spain in the approval of a first package of urgent measures to fulfill the commitment made with Brussels. The Contingency and Savings Plan, approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers, imposes restrictions on the use of air conditioning and heating in public buildings and businesses, as well as limitations on the use of lighting.

Thus, public buildings, shops, department stores, transport infrastructures, cultural spaces and hotels must limit air conditioning to a minimum temperature of 27 degrees and do the same with heating, which may not exceed 19 degrees. In addition, lights in shop windows and public buildings must be turned off after 10 p.m.

Administrative buildings, both public and private, will be required to limit the temperature. This classification would include, for example, banks, professional offices and offices.

Commercial establishments, such as shops, supermarkets, department stores and the like, must also apply this measure.

Likewise, the list of spaces affected by the savings plan includes cultural buildings -theaters, cinemas, auditoriums, congress centers and exhibition halls-, as well as establishments for public shows and recreational activities.

In addition, hotels, restaurants, bars and cafeterias will not be exempt from limiting the temperature of their air conditioners and heaters. Nor is the transport of people, specifically stations and airports, among the exceptions.

The Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has asserted that there will be exceptions to the obligation to limit the temperature. In this sense, health, assistance and educational centers as well as hairdressers will be exempt. Also gyms and restaurant kitchens. In addition, the Government opens the door to extend the exemption to those work centers where "for justified reasons" it is necessary to accommodate this criterion "to a more lax orientation".

In addition to limiting the temperature, the plan also requires turning off the lights in shop windows and public buildings that are unoccupied after 10 p.m. The same is available for the decorative lighting of facades from that time, although this regulation will only affect buildings for public use and there is no forecast that the measure will affect ornamental lights, such as Christmas lights.

On the other hand, the plan incorporates the obligation as of September 30 that both buildings and premises have automatic closures on the access doors to prevent them from being permanently open, with the consequent waste due to energy losses abroad. Likewise, posters must be displayed to explain these saving measures in the establishments, as well as to inform about temperatures and humidity levels. "We want to invite you to point out with posters, information panels and thermometers that show the temperature to verify that these provisions are complied with," said Ribera during the press conference after the Council of Ministers.

The Government has also asked to promote, in line with what the central administration is also doing, teleworking. "We were able to do it in a pandemic and since then we have learned a lot," said Ribera.

In the case of all these initiatives, the period for their application will be one week from their publication this Tuesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and they will be valid until November 1, 2023. In the event of non-compliance, the Government ensures that there is a sanctioning regime, although it has specified that surveillance to ensure that energy saving measures are complied with will depend on the autonomous communities.

Regarding the amount of the sanctions, disobeying or infringing the energy saving and efficiency plan will entail fines of up to 60,000 euros for minor infractions, up to six million euros for serious ones and up to 100 million euros for very serious ones.

The Contingency and Savings Plan comes after Spain agreed with Brussels to reduce gas consumption by around 7% to guarantee energy supply during the coming winter. The common objective for all member countries of the European Union (EU) involves a reduction of 15%, a requirement that was softened under a series of requirements, such as the country justifying a low interconnection with respect to other member states and its capacity to export to redirect gas consumption to other countries.