Second World War-style energy rationing has started in Germany as its energy crisis takes a new turn, now affecting not only Germans' bank account balances, but now its hot water taps, too..Hamburg, which is Germany's second largest city, warned “warm water could only be made available at certain times of the day in an emergency,” predicting the likelihood of a real and critical natural gas shortage..On Friday, residents in the eastern German state of Saxony were told by their housing association that hot showers would only be possible from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day, the Financial Times reported..Most of this year, Germany has been understandably worried about Russia’s handle on its domestic natural gas supply. These anxieties were not without basis since it's now becoming clear the country is returning an energy crunch situation it — and much of the world — saw during the '70s international energy crisis, during the OPEC oil embargo..Vonovia, a German real estate company, said it will reduce tenants' heating during the night to reduce its expenses..In a statement provided to Insider news outlet, Vonovia said the decision to reduce heating temperatures in its accommodation was designed to "save as much gas as possible," adding reducing temperatures between 11pm and 6am would reduce heating costs by about 8%..In 2021, Germany relied on Russia for more than half its natural gas supplies. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the nation has reduced that proportion to a little over one-third, but with Russia seemingly prepared to further cut gas shipments to Europe, German authorities are faced with some challenging dilemmas..“The situation is more than dramatic,” Axel Gedaschko, German politician and president of GdW, the federal association of German housing, told the FT..One German district is turning off the hot water in more than 80 schools and 60 gyms, the FT said..It isn’t just hot water that’s being rationed. In addition to shorter shower times, authorities are requesting municipalities across the country switch off traffic lights at night, turn off the outside lighting for historic buildings, and ease up on air conditioner use in a bid to lower electricity usage..The Germans are not the only ones in hot water, or getting less of it, so to speak. The French are also dealing with supply issues.."Let's prepare for a total cut-off of Russian gas — today that is the most likely option," French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the Rencontres Economiques, an economy-focused publication in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence.."You also have to prepare load-shedding plans, we are doing it," he said to reporters. "It means looking in a very specific way at each company, each employment area — which are the companies that should reduce their energy consumption, and which are the ones that cannot?," Le Maire said..The French government proposed its own measures to respond to the potential disruption of domestic gas supplies. The measures would include taking over French gas-fired power plants as part of a wider plan to leverage its "purchasing power." The bill will be debated in France's National Assembly next week..Gas supplies from Russia to Germany have been halted from Monday for 10 days for pipeline maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea facilities — the most important connection for natural gas supply to Germany. Part of the maintenance work involves the replacement of equipment repaired in Canada..Canada has agreed to export a repaired natural-gas turbine back to Germany for use in the Nord Stream pipeline — despite protestations from Ukraine and its allies — ducking sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas industry, Canada having issued a “time-limited and revocable” permit to export..However, German authorities are very worried supplies may not be restored at all following the maintenance work — delays that would be the result of tensions between Europe and Russia.
