French media report: Households in France lacking heat

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Nov 2022 15:34

French media sheds the light on households in France that are suffering from heat deprivation despite paying energy bills.

French households are deprived of heat as the country is facing a staggering economic crisis.

French media addressed on Tuesday the suffering of low-income individuals in France and their deprivation of heating, especially in popular housing in the city of Amiens, where the temperature reaches 12 degrees Celsius inside homes, despite people having paid energy subscriptions.

French channel BFMTV spoke to one of the residents of Amiens, Natalie, who revealed that she had been using cooking gas for heating.

Natalie pointed out that the reason was the delay in rehabilitation work in her low-income home in Amiens, saying that she "has not had heating in her house for two months while the temperature reaches 12 degrees in her apartment."

12°C dans des HLM d'Amiens: les habitants privés de chauffage mais obligés de payer pic.twitter.com/GQJQ6Gveoi
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) November 15, 2022

Many French cities suffer from a decrease in local heating, while analysts said that this comes as a result of France's foreign policy stances toward Russia.

In a statement made in October, Hendrik Neumann, chief technical officer of Germany's main grid operator Amprion, said that the energy crisis Germany and the rest of the EU are facing is not entirely resulting from the Ukraine war, but rather comes as "overlapping issues" become more prominent.

Infograph: Energy bills are becoming more than a month’s salary

The gas operator in the European Union announced on November 6 that five countries began using their gas reserves, although they had saved them to cover the winter deficit following sanctions against Russia.

IEA: Europe should act immediately

A few days ago, the International Energy Agency said that "Europe should act immediately to avoid a shortage of natural gas next year in light of the loss of Russian supplies and expectations of increased Chinese demand for gas."

EU Spokesperson for Climate Action and Energy Tim McPhie said earlier this month that EU member states would have to go for more intensive use of coal over the coming few winters to ensure energy security.

The spokesperson underlined that such a measure would be a short-term one, and the commission had already suggested expanded targets for renewables and energy efficiency plans for 2030.

Infograph: EU countries facing recession

As the EU faces this winter an unprecedented risk of gas shortages caused by the sanctions imposed on Russia, the bloc's countries are taking measures to reduce their energy consumption. Germany, Spain, and France are examples of nations that announced such plans.

Italy and Germany are now the two largest European economies most exposed to a gas supply shock due to their extensive use of natural gas and significant reliance on Russia, according to S&P Global Ratings.

Germany, for one, is mulling cutting energy supplies for hospitals in a bid to save up on energy, potentially jeopardizing the healthcare sector.

Spain said it would be cutting energy exports to France to try and keep its stockpiles due to the difficulty of refilling them once they are empty.

France, in the meantime, has discussed the prospect of turning the power off for the Eiffel Tower earlier than usual to save energy as well.