Paris to scale back monument lighting to cut energy use
Paris will start switching off the ornamental lights that grace city monuments hours earlier than usual, plunging the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks in the dark to cope with surging electricity costs, officials said on Tuesday.
Most monuments operated by the city will cease being floodlit from 10pm.
The Eiffel Tower, usually bathed in a warm glow until 1am, and which comes ablaze with dazzling white lights every hour, will now go dark after the last visitor leaves, at 11.45 pm.
But streets lights will remain on for security, as will the illuminations of the city's ornate bridges over the Seine river, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said at a press conference.
The measures are part of the city's "energy sobriety" plan to cut energy usage by 10 percent, something that all French local authorities are required to produce as the government works on a nationwide strategy for sobriété enérgetique.
Also included in the plan is lowering the temperatures of all local-authority controlled buildings to the government maximum of 10 percent, with the exception of schools, nurseries, care homes and other venues that house vulnerable people.
Hidalgo added that the measures could also help soften the blow of rising costs by some €10 million.
Hidalgo, said she would also push the government to cut floodlighting for national monuments in the city, such as the Panthéon or the Arc de Triomphe, which are not controlled by city authorities.
In August, President Emmanuel Macron warned that high energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine could signal "the end of abundance," widely interpreted as preparing public opinion for a difficult winter ahead.
Paris follows in the footsteps of the northern French city of Lille, which has already announced that it will cease to light up most of its public buildings at night.
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Most monuments operated by the city will cease being floodlit from 10pm.
The Eiffel Tower, usually bathed in a warm glow until 1am, and which comes ablaze with dazzling white lights every hour, will now go dark after the last visitor leaves, at 11.45 pm.
But streets lights will remain on for security, as will the illuminations of the city's ornate bridges over the Seine river, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said at a press conference.
The measures are part of the city's "energy sobriety" plan to cut energy usage by 10 percent, something that all French local authorities are required to produce as the government works on a nationwide strategy for sobriété enérgetique.
Also included in the plan is lowering the temperatures of all local-authority controlled buildings to the government maximum of 10 percent, with the exception of schools, nurseries, care homes and other venues that house vulnerable people.
Hidalgo added that the measures could also help soften the blow of rising costs by some €10 million.
Hidalgo, said she would also push the government to cut floodlighting for national monuments in the city, such as the Panthéon or the Arc de Triomphe, which are not controlled by city authorities.
In August, President Emmanuel Macron warned that high energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine could signal "the end of abundance," widely interpreted as preparing public opinion for a difficult winter ahead.
Paris follows in the footsteps of the northern French city of Lille, which has already announced that it will cease to light up most of its public buildings at night.
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