«Faced with the risk of electricity supply shortages announced by the government for this winter», the Perifem federation, which brings together all the distribution players to act on energy or environmental issues, has defined «common and concrete measures to reduce energy consumption in stores, starting October 15.
It is planned to turn off the illuminated signs «as soon as the store closes» – against generally one hour after closing at present – and to «systematise the reduction in light intensity», by halving the lighting of the surface of sale before the public arrives and 30% during «critical periods of consumption».
Other measures are also planned, such as «cutting off air renewal at night, delaying ice production» and emergency measures, in particular providing for lowering the temperature of points of sale to 17 degrees this fall and this winter, if requested by a regulatory authority.
President Emmanuel Macron explained on July 14 that the State was preparing an energy «sobriety plan» to deal with the risk of shortages linked to the war in Ukraine, calling for «collective return to a logic of sobriety».
These first measures, which have been taken by E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Système U, Les Mousquetaires Intermarché, Auchan, Casino, Franprix, Monoprix, Lidl and even Picard, are also cost-saving measures for retailers, faced with the rise the cost of energy.
While «the electricity bill represented 30%» of the net income of the brands «before the recent surges in energy costs», it is «essential to reduce the energy bill and to mobilize together to avoid too significant an impact on the price for consumers», recognizes the federation, while the Élan Law also provides for a reduction in energy consumption in stores by 40% by 2030.
The Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher welcomed in a press release these «first commitments announced by Perifem».
«This is a first step that has been taken, with immediate measures, which the minister had called for», indicated his cabinet, while calling for «continuing this work and going further», because «it is It’s about taking all the measures that will produce immediate effects to get through winter, but also to sustainably reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.»
“The time has come for energy sobriety, this will profoundly change our consumption habits”, estimated in the Perifem press release its president, Thierry Cotillard, for whom this protocol “must be long-term”.
The federation also wants to believe that this protocol can serve «as a basis for all trade and distribution federations for the generalization of these measures», which will be presented to them «at a meeting on July 26».