EU Tells Governments To Keep Cutting Energy Use
Virgil's Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming — Joseph Wright (Wright of Derby), 1779
What Happened
EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen sent governments a letter urging them to keep curbing gas and electricity demand, warning that storage levels remain "exceptionally low." EU gas storage sits around 70% full, about 12 points below last year. Dutch benchmark gas prices have risen roughly €40/MWh since the US and Israel bombed Iran in February.
Why It Matters
Nobody's being told to panic. Everybody's being told to use less electricity at peak hours, anyway. Jørgensen is explicit that this isn't a supply emergency yet — it's a price problem that could become one if LNG competition with Asia keeps squeezing the market. The EU's actual position: the lights stay on either way, but staying comfortable and staying cheap are no longer the same request.
What's Next
Jørgensen wants an 80% storage target instead of 90%, to avoid governments bidding up already-tight gas markets.