EU Commission To Announce Plan To Incentivize Gas Demand Cut

The European Commission is set to announce a plan to encourage EU countries to cut gas demand in a bid to safeguard European gas reserves in the event of Russia disrupting supply in the winter.

• According to Reuters, the EU Commission plan, which will be published on July 20, will suggest financial incentives for industries to cut gas usage.
• It is likely that the plan will also suggest education campaigns directed at consumers to cut personal gas use. This may be comparable to schemes in Australia and South Africa designed to cut domestic water use through initiatives like a self-enforced three-minute shower rule.
• Under EU law, households are "protected customers" therefore insulated from the initial stages of gas rationing.
• A draft of the plan obtained by Reuters says: "Early joint action at EU level at this critical moment of the storage filling process will reduce the need for possible and more painful demand reduction later in the winter, in case of interruption of flow from Russia."
• According to the leaked plan, EU gas storage is currently at 62%, significantly short of the 80% target capacity by November.