Lights out, heaters off: Europeans prepare for winter energy crisis after Russia turns off gas | CBC News: As Europe heads into winter in the throes of an energy crisis,
offices are getting chillier. Statues and historic buildings are going
dark. Bakers who can’t afford to heat their ovens are talking about
giving up, while fruit and vegetable growers face letting greenhouses
stand idle.

In poorer eastern Europe, people are stocking up on
firewood, while in wealthier Germany, the wait for an energy-saving heat
pump can take half a year. And businesses don’t know how much more they
can cut back.

“We can’t turn off the lights and make our guests
sit in the dark,” said Richard Kovacs, business development manager for
Hungarian burger chain Zing Burger. The restaurants already run the
grills no more than necessary and use motion detectors to turn off
lights in storage, with some stores facing a 750 per cent increase in
electricity bills since the beginning of the year.