A recent report has revealed that Switzerland’s federal law allows the authorities to imprison citizens who use up too much energy, especially now when they have been mandated to ration energy usage. Any citizen refusing to comply with these new energy mandates will most likely end up in prison.
It is no news that the gas price in all of Europe is now equivalent to that of gold. Since the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the natural gas price is now at least ten times more than it used to be, and it keeps increasing. Last week, Russia also severed natural gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
A report from a Switzerland news outlet Blick, revealed that the law on National Economic supply permits authorities to fine and imprison residents who use too much gas if energy rationing becomes mandatory.
Switzerland residents are expected to keep their thermostats nothing more than 19 degrees Celsius over the winter. Markus Sporndli, a Federal Department of Finance spokesman, revealed that the failure to comply with this instruction could attract sanctions as low as 30 Swiss francs ($31) or as much as 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,090).
Switzerland has a new regulation that prohibits citizens from raising the temperature in their homes by more than 19 degrees celsius.
This is 2022 and we cannot even heat our homes with the loved ones? It is not our fault, but part of the grand plan.
Fuck off. pic.twitter.com/Tqlj3rXIRx
— überbleu (@tony_huszar) September 9, 2022
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Residents who have been discovered to violate the temperature mandates intentionally can receive up to a three years prison sentence. More so, residents charged with negligent violations could be mandated to pay 180 days worth of fines.
In addition to the mandates for energy rationing, residents are also banned from heating their swimming pools, saunas, air tens, or heaters. They are also not allowed to boil water above 60 degrees Celsius.
JUST IN: Switzerland is considering adding a jail time of up to three years for anyone who heats their rooms above 19 degrees Celsius if the country is forced to ration gas due to the Ukraine war.
Those who violate the proposed new regulations may face fines as well. pic.twitter.com/XLOEfLDs8I
— BNN Switzerland (@BNNnewsCH) September 8, 2022
Any concerns about these mandates are expected to be tendered by the members of the Swiss Confederacy before the 23rd day in September.
Several other European countries have implemented energy consumption restrictions or have braced residents to be prepared for the possibility of such restrictions.
The European Union, of which Switzerland is not a member, has adopted the climate-neutral society policy following the finalization of the European Green Deal and the Pariz Agreement. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also proposed a target for reducing energy usage in the European Union.
She said, “If you look at the costs of electricity, there are peak demands. And this is what is expensive, because, in these peak demands, the expensive gas comes into the market. So what we have to do is to flatten the curve and avoid the peak demands. We will propose a mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours.”
Switzerland produces 30% of its electricity from three nuclear plants. However, the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Japan led the nation to phase out nuclear power by 2034. This deadline has recently been contemplated due to concerns about the uncertainty of future energy supply.
