The European Commission is set to call on EU member states to implement a plan requiring consumers to use less electricity for three to four hours a day.

Though it will be at the discretion of EU member states to each decide their respective hours of reduced electricity usage, the fact that this energy-saving measure will be mandatory highlights the seriousness of the energy crisis.

A draft of Brussels’ plan was leaked yesterday ahead of a series of measures to be announced tomorrow by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Though the latest energy-saving proposal will offer some flexibility to governments, including the ability to implement the measure during hours when RES output is low, it is expected to prompt further disagreement between member states as to how the energy crisis should be confronted, as was the case last Friday at a meeting of EU energy ministers.

Other measures to be announced by the European Commission’s leader tomorrow will include compensation offers, through auctions, for industrial enterprises reducing energy consumption.