Switzerland announces jail time for high room temperatures in event of energy rationing

The Swiss government Tuesday announced that should it be forced to ration gas due to the Russia-Ukraine war, those who raise their thermostats above 19C (66.2F) for the next three years will be fined and jailed. 

Speaking with Swiss news outlet Blick, Switzerland Federal Department of Finance spokesman Markus Sporndli said that offenders who heat their homes will be fined the daily equivalent of $40 per day and a maximum fine of $4,031. Repeated offenders will face imprisonment. 

Swiss companies will also be penalized, with buildings held to the same standard. Water will be allowed to be heated up to 60C (140F), but radiant heaters will be outlawed and saunas and swimming pools will have to remain cold, reports Western Standard. 

Several European countries have already implemented energy mandates to “fight climate change.” 

As reported by America’s Frontline News, Spain, France, Germany, Greece and Italy have taken measures to restrict basic utilities such as lighting and heating to conserve energy for the environment. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has even stopped wearing neckties to fight climate change. 

Now the European Union has seized on another reason to impose restrictions as Russian President Vladimir Putin this week severed its oil supply to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The EU immediately announced new Marxist measures to “flatten the curve.” 

In a statement Wednesday, EU President Ursula von der Leyen proposed five measures to “flatten the curve” of peak energy demand by placing a cap on electricity usage.  

“The first one is smart savings of electricity,” the president said in the statement. “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.”  

Second, the EU will place a cap on the revenue generated by energy companies – even those with low carbon emissions – which the government has now decided is too much.  

“We will propose a cap on the revenues of companies that are producing electricity with low costs,” continued von der Leyen. “The low-carbon energy sources are making in these times – because they have low costs but they have high prices on the market – enormous revenues.” Von der Leyen said these are “revenues they never dreamt of; and revenues they cannot invest to that extent.”  

The government will take those extra profits and redistribute the wealth.  

“So, it is now time for the consumers to benefit from the low costs of low-carbon energy sources like, for example, the renewables. We will propose to re-channel these unexpected profits to the Member States so that the Member States can support the vulnerable households and vulnerable companies.”  

The third measure proposes forcing energy companies with high fossil fuels to pay a “solidarity contribution” because “all energy sources must help to overcome this crisis.”  

The fourth measure would help provide liquidity support for energy companies, and the fifth would place a cap on Russian gas, even though Russia already decided this week to cut off its supply to Europe. 

“These are tough times, and they will not be over soon,” von der Leyen concluded. “But I am deeply convinced that, if we show the solidary [sic], the unity and we have the determination for that, we have the economic strength, we have the political will, that then we shall overcome.”  

It is unclear if the “tough times” will be for all European citizens or only for those with limited means.