According to the E.ON utility provider, which has 5.6 million customers in the United Kingdom, the country saw "double-digit" declines in energy consumption over the past weeks. Michael Lewis, the chief executive of E.ON, specified that the company recorded reductions of 10-15%, the newspaper said.
Utility Warehouse, a supplier with 800,000 customers, also registered a 10% drop in consumption. Andrew Lindsay, CEO of Utility Warehouse's parent company Telecom Plus, told the Guardian that they expect "a further decline in consumption as people self regulate."
In October, UK electricity operator National Grid presented an emergency plan that provided for systematic three-hour power outages in the country in the event of a cold winter and an interruption of Russian gas supplies. According to UK energy regulator Ofgem, the UK is facing a gas shortage caused by the ongoing energy crisis, as a result of which some gas-fired power plants may even go bankrupt.
Western countries and their allies have been facing a massive energy crisis and struggling to fill their gas reserves in time for the heating season in the aftermath of imposing sanctions on Russia after it launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The sanctions and the military operation resulted in significant disruptions in supply chains and a spike in energy prices worldwide. In the UK, the rising cost of living has hit millions of households.