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source: pixabay/marcelkessler-3217273

Anti-blackout-plan in Switzerland

The Swiss government has been thinking about how to counteract possible power outages, the so-called blackouts. In the course of this, it has come up with various, albeit drastic, measures. The measures affect the entire population, including motorists.
So the plan would be a four-stage plan that would relieve the pressure on the power grids there. In addition, the very current “Ordinance on the Restriction and Prohibition of the Use of Electric Power” specifies at least restrictions for motorists.
But first, about the envisioned four-step plan. In a first stage, parking lots and houses may only be illuminated during the corresponding opening hours, provided that they are not emergency lighting. In the subsequent stage, warehouses and transshipment point are only to be heated to 18 degrees Celsius. The third stage now restricts motorists. Electric cars are only to be used for relevant and necessary drives. Hybrid cars, on the other hand, may no longer use the electronic component at all. Around 110,000 Swiss drivers who use electric cars are now only allowed to use them to carry out matters of daily use such as shopping. There are few other exceptions. In all other respects, the use of car washes is prohibited. On the fourth and thus final stage, escalators are shut down, winter events are banned, and public film and sporting events ae prohibited. Regardless to the four-step plan, the ordinance states that the speed limit on highways will be reduced to 100 km/h and electric lights on streets and public places will be turned off on certain days and times. If these measures do not promise any improvement, the network will be shutting down alternately in different regions. This will not affect any system-relevant providers and, of course, emergency services. Last but not least, daily life is also restricted or prescribed in various ways. It starts with the requirement that laundry may only be washed at 40 degrees and ends with the ban on hot water in public toilets.