The European Union (EU) is set to propose a mandatory target to cut the bloc’s power use, a step towards rationing, together with measures to funnel energy company profits to struggling consumers as it tries to stem the crisis.
The EU’s executive arm will propose its package this week, but it will still need to be unanimously agreed by Member States. However, there are deep divisions among individual states, and individual governments are likely to push for changes to the proposed plan
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s original plan had included the controversial idea of trying to cap the price of imported Russian gas. That element has been postponed for more talks.
Gas prices are already easing, at least in part because of the bloc’s plans. Dutch TTF front-month gas (currently October), the European benchmark, was down 1.736% on the day on Sept. 15, closing at €214.1 a megawatt-hour (MWh). TTF front-month gas had hit €339.195 a MWh hit on Aug. 26 – close to the all-time high of €345 per MWh seen in early March.