PARIS - France launched a national energy savings plan on Thursday, banking on a push to turn off lights and lower thermostats to avoid power and gas cuts over the winter.
Although the country is less dependent on Russian gas than eastern neighbours like Germany, French nuclear power production has slumped as the sector struggles to bring more of its aging reactors online out of forced maintenance.
The government has set a target of cutting France's energy consumption 10% by 2024 from 2019 levels, a first step in a longer-term plan to become carbon neutral by reducing energy use 40% by 2050.
"Our joint action will allow us to avoid taking more binding measures," Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said as she presented the plan.
Under the wide ranging plan, the government would set the example, including by enforcing a 19-Celsius (64 Fahrenheit) temperature limit in public buildings and lowering that to 18 Celsius on days when the grid is under strain.
Among other measures, the state will also cut hot water use in lavatories, encourage work from home and civil servants driving government vehicles will be required to limit their speed to 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph).
Meanwhile, 30 out of France's biggest 40 companies have committed to reduce energy use by turning off lights in unused buildings while limiting heating and air conditioning.
Pannier-Runacher said that nearly 800 million euros ($787 million) had been set aside to help people reduce their energy use including up to 9,000 euros per household in subsidies to switch from gas boilers to more energy-efficient heat pumps.
($1 = 1.0167 euros)
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Susan Fenton)