UK: Europeans try to reduce their energy consumption by reducing ironing, using ovens less, and showering at work, but costs keep rising.
According to statistics, millions of people in Europe are now putting a record percentage of their income into energy costs as a result of rising wholesale gas and electricity prices.
Philip Keatley, who lives in the eastern England town of Grimsby, decided not to turn on his cooling fan at home this summer, as Britain set a record.
He could not afford it, as was evident from the look of his bank account.

"You're still expected to live on that money when there was no crisis, despite the fact that living expenses have gone up ... I can either turn on my heating or eat," Keatley said. Am.

With gas, electricity and fuel prices rising as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, sanctions imposed on Russia and the coronavirus pandemic, citizens of other European countries are also voluntarily reducing their consumption.
In the past 12 months, the benchmark gas price in Europe has increased by 550 percent. Starting in October, energy prices for British consumers will increase by 80%, according to regulator Offgame, bringing the average annual household bill to £3,549 (US$4,188).
Governments in Europe have rushed to offer aid, but data indicates that households have not seen physical improvement.

Britons will spend an average of 10% of their household income this winter on gas, electricity, and other heating fuels as well as domestic vehicle fuels, mainly petrol and diesel, according to Carbon Brief's calculations based on official data . This is more than double what they will spend in 2021.

Because of this, the current energy crisis is worse than it was in the 1970s and 1980s. The oil producer's embargo and the 1979 Iranian Revolution resulted in blackouts and long lines at gas stations in the West. People in Britain spent 9.3% of their income on energy at the height of the crisis in 1982.
According to UK charity National Energy Action (NEA), 8.9 million UK households could live in fuel poverty after October when the UK limit was raised, up from 4.5 million in October of last year.
According to the NEA and other British charities, a family is considered to be in fuel poverty if it has a low income and must spend 10% or more of its income on energy. The statement is used informally in other European countries.

According to Peter Smith, the NEA's director of policy and advocacy, energy bills are rising at a rate never seen before.
We believe that the historical pattern of low-income households spending a disproportionately high percentage of their income on energy is still much in evidence.

eat or warm

In April, Keatley lost his position as council advisor. He now makes a living on 600 pounds ($706.44) a month from a Social Security program. He claimed that the remaining amount barely meets the needs, with half of it being spent on rent.
He now eats only one meal per day, and despite using less energy overall, he still spends more than 15% of his income on energy costs.
According to a study by the Financial Fairness Trust, a third of UK households have cut back on stovetop and oven use, a third have reduced showers, and half have lowered the thermostat in their homes.

"People try very hard to keep their bills low, but they keep rising," according to Jamie Evans, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol, who conducted a study conducted by the Financial Times. Contributed to the Fairness Trust.

Don White, who suffers from kidney failure, worries that rising energy costs in Britain will prevent him from affording the treatment he needs.
White, 59, a southeast England resident told Reuters she would perish without her [dialysis] machine, which she uses five times per week for 20 hours.
According to the inflation-adjusted index for households provided by the International Energy Agency, gas prices for households in most top European economies in the first quarter of 2022 will be higher than the peaks of previous crises in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s. IEA).

Europe appears to be in a worse position than other advanced economies.
The OECD gas price index was still below its pre-crisis peak at the end of the first quarter.
According to IEA data, the price of gas for European households has surpassed US levels in 2022, which date back to 1978, despite the fact that American households have experienced higher prices on average for natural gas over the past 40 years. have paid.

shower at work

According to statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute, gas prices in Turkey more than doubled in July compared to the same month last year, while electricity prices increased by 67%.
To save energy, 27-year-old Istanbul resident Aida Bal said she only uses the oven three times a month. 

To save fuel, her husband takes the bus to go to work, even though it takes three times as long as that.
According to IEA data, German and Italian households in the European Union are most affected by rising gas prices.

According to data from economic research firm Prometia, the average energy bill for an Italian household rose from 3.5% in 2019 to 5% by July 2022, mainly for gas and electricity. The level in July was the highest since 1995, according to OECD data.
Household gas bills in Europe's largest economy Germany more than doubled in July from 2021, according to data from price portal Check24, while oil prices for households living in terraced homes rose 78% in May.

Erken Erden, 58, works as a machine operator at a mineral water factory and lives in Nidda, a town northeast of Frankfurt. He said, "I now take a shower after work in the office and shave there.

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