Retailers turn off lights, cut opening hours to save energy

Spar

10/08/2022 09:23

By Richa Naidu
    LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - As energy bills mount and the
threat of rationing increases, some European retailers are
turning off lights and considering shorter opening hours this
winter. 
    Energy bosses and government officials have urged people and
businesses to reduce power use and put in place contingency
plans so they are less reliant on gas imports if there are
shortages linked to the war in Ukraine.
    The Austrian branch of multinational retail chain SPAR Group
is reducing the hours of lighting for storefront advertising and
outside its more than 1,500 stores across the country, a
spokesperson said in an email.
    The move will reduce the retailer's energy consumption by
one million kilowatt hours annually, the spokesperson said,
without saying how much money this would save. 
    Last month, the boss of Leclerc warned that France's largest
food retailer could reduce opening hours at its stores to deal
with power shortages.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z60GL
    Just over a week earlier, rival French supermarket operator
Carrefour signed an "EcoWatt Charter" with national energy grid
operator RTE, reducing electricity consumption in its stores
during periods of high demand. 
    Some retailers, including Belgium's Colruyt  COLR.BR  and
Ahold  AD.AS , might be partly insulated from potential
disruptions and the higher costs due to existing sustainable
energy programs that conserve power.
    "No concrete measures are planned in the short term, but the
firm ambition is to continue the efforts as part of our overall
energy policy," a Colruyt spokesperson said. "That's why we
don't have any illuminated signs, we opt for closed freezers, a
cold room, etc." 
    The company has 44 "zero fossil fuel" stores, which do not
use fuel oil or natural gas, but are instead heated entirely by
waste heat and green electricity, the spokesperson said.
    Ahold is also looking for ways to cut its energy usage,
chief executive Frans Muller said in an interview. 
    "We have not made any decisions on opening times but we're
looking much more at the use of energy," he said. 
    The company already had some gas saving programs in place,
including running its Albert Heijn stores entirely on
sustainable energy next year.

 (Reporting by Richa Naidu. Additional reporting by Anthony
Deutsch in Amsterdam; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Elaine
Hardcastle)
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