Shop windows and monuments will have to turn off their lights from ten at night

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The Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera. / EFE | Video: Atlas

The air conditioning may not be below 27 degrees Celsius in summer and the heating may not exceed 19 degrees

“The situation is critical and a Russian gas cut-off could occur at any time.” With these words, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, presented last night the new energy saving plan with which it is intended to reduce national consumption by 7% following the recommendations of Brussels and that, finally and despite the airing, will not affect to work centers.

In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, Ribera made it clear that “before September it was essential to address this first package of savings and efficiency measures.” The minister emphasized that the measures will imply sanctions for those who do not comply, although their vigilance will correspond to the autonomous communities.

In addition, this plan will be complemented with the framework that the Executive will present in September in the contingency plan. “The Spaniards are not going to be cold this winter”, the vice president wanted to reassure three hours before this last Council of Ministers of the year, appealing to the individual contribution that each citizen can make to save energy in order to complement the star measures of this royal decree.

Limited temperatures

One of the great novelties will be the limitation of temperatures in public buildings. Thus, a limit of 27 degrees is urged in the case of air conditioning in summer and 19 degrees for heating in winter, at least until November 2023. According to the minister, the calculations suggest that each degree that is limited 7% of electricity consumption is saved.

These limitations would affect not only public buildings, but also cultural spaces, hotels, cinemas, train and bus stations, airports and department stores, but not companies in general (offices). Ribera indicated that to verify that the measure is fulfilled, thermometers will be installed.

Blackout from 10:00 p.m.

Businesses, similar to what is already happening in France and Germany, will have to turn off the lights in their shop windows after ten o’clock at night, a measure that will also apply to public buildings that are not in use, lighting decoration of its facades and monuments. This measure will be mandatory once seven calendar days have elapsed from the date of publication of the regulation in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and until November 1, 2023.

Closed doors

The premises will have to have the doors closed whenever the air conditioning and heating are in operation, another measure that mimics what is already in force in France. But in this case, two months are given for its application and all buildings will be required to have a door closing system before September 30.

The shops will have to enable mechanisms between now and September so that the doors are closed and energy is not lost

More telecommuting

The royal decree encourages teleworking similar to what is already applied in the General State Administration, which has a catalog of positions in which it is possible to work remotely and others in which attendance is required. For this reason, Ribera urged that companies, as was done during the last health crisis, encourage their workers to telecommute and allow timetables to be concentrated in order to save travel and in turn save consumption in public buildings. “We were able to do it during the pandemic and have learned a lot since then,” he noted.

Inspection of boilers and buildings

To avoid consuming more than is appropriate, properties that have passed the energy efficiency inspection before January 1, 2021 must undergo an extraordinary review before December 31, 2022, so that all buildings with a relevant air conditioning consumption have passed an inspection in the last two years. In the same way, the revision of thermal boilers is established, provided that the last one was prior to January 2021.

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