Unplug shop lights to help avoid blackouts, urges peer
The Independent|December 03, 2022
The government should pass a law requiring advertising billboards and shop signs to be switched off at night to help avoid potential blackouts, a Green Party peer has said.
SAPHORA SMITH
Unplug shop lights to help avoid blackouts, urges peer

Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green Party from 2012 to 2016 and second Green peer in the House of Lords, told The Independent the government should legislate to oblige businesses to switch off "blazing" neon shop signs in the middle of the night. "Those are not essential uses of electricity and if we cut down on that we could actually save ourselves potentially blackouts," she said.

Like the rest of Europe, the UK is struggling with an energy crisis after Russia slashed its exports of natural gas that many countries depended on to generate electricity. Moscow's decision has sent prices soaring as countries scramble to find alternative sources of energy. To save energy the government should also consider pushing businesses to turn off lights in shops after hours, said Baroness Bennett, pointing to policies in France and Spain that do just that.

This story is from the December 03, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the December 03, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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