Europe's energy crisis may close... British museums?

Miyo McGinn

September 14, 2022

The energy crisis has UK museums worried they won’t be able to keep their doors open as winter heating bills are estimated to cost as much as five times more this year.

British museums have been in the news a lot lately. Namely, for the institutions’ massive collections of cultural artifacts plundered from former colonies of the British empire. And, perhaps more importantly, the ongoing conversations (and refusals) to return said artifacts to their homes.

However, one conversation the museums of the UK cannot ignore presently is that of greater Europe’s energy crisis and the forecasted long winter ahead.

This summer saw blazing record-setting temperatures and wildfires. And while those issues have cooled off, for now, this fall won’t mark the end of the continent’s struggles with climate. Inflation and ballooning energy costs, driven in large part by Russia’s war with Ukraine, will be a big stress for businesses, institutions, schools, and individuals alike as they try to stay warm through the winter.

Sharon Heal, the director of the UK Museums Association, said in August that she’d been hearing growing concern from many of the organization’s 1,800 member institutions about being able to afford their heating bills and stay open at all.

“We are getting concerned calls almost every day from institutions saying their anticipated energy bills are five times what they were last year,” Heal says. “They say: ‘This is the dealbreaker for us. This is worse than COVID.’”

UK museums not being able to keep their doors open may seem like karmic punishment for the ongoing controversy of stolen artifacts. But it’s also a serious loss of an important community resource to help keep people safe. A number of UK municipalities are planning on using museums (as well as other public buildings) as “warming shelters.” These shelters are open to people who can’t afford to heat their own homes or who may have no source of heat at all.

But that may not be a possibility now.

“During COVID we had the furlough scheme and the cultural recovery fund, both of which stopped museums having to close down their operations entirely,” Heal says. “At the moment there’s nothing on the table to support museums through this crisis.”

Unfortunately, keeping museums open and heated is one item on a seemingly endless list of problems facing the UK, and the rest of Europe, this winter.

Energy costs have grown exponentially in Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Before the war, Europe got around 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia. Russia hasn’t said outright that they’re weaponizing their control of the energy supply. But the closure and restriction of state-owned pipelines—and the havoc it wreaks on the European economy generally—has spoken for itself.

Now, even though the UK doesn’t get nearly as much of its gas from Russia as, say, Germany does, global gas prices are now 10 times higher than the 10-year average.

Aggressive energy reduction plans—including rationing and a 15 percent overall reduction in energy use across the EU—are already in the works. Many countries are looking for alternative energy sources so the heat can stay on this winter. Germany, Italy, and a few other countries are firing up shuttered coal plants again. Additionally, some countries are looking to buy natural gas from countries besides Russia.

And while firing up old coal plants may be deemed necessary for now, we have our fingers crossed that governments and corporate structures are able to take this crisis and use it as an opportunity to extend the use of renewable energy and meet sustainability goals that are already in place across the world.

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Miyo McGinn

Miyo McGinn is a writer, fact-checker, and self-described aspiring ski bum based in Washington. Her bylines can be found at Grist, High Country News, and Outside. She covers US and global news stories for Adventure.com.