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THE ENERGY THREAT TO EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY: The energy crisis is tearing through Europe’s civil institutions, threatening mass closure of pubs, straining educational budgets, and driving at least one Catholic diocese to hold services less frequently.

Much of the focus on the fallout from Europe’s energy crisis has been about the stress on large firms and household bills. Governments are bailing out businesses and extending new credit lines to help energy and industrial firms cope with the exorbitant costs of natural gas and electricity.

Words like “apocalyptic” and “extinction” are now also being thrown around to size up the fate that British schools and watering holes face this winter because of high costs.

Worst-case scenarios: A London high school was quoted to face a 587% increase for the cost of natural gas for heating, according to British education publication Schools Week.

Some educational leaders there foresee a situation in which schools may have to choose between paying teachers or heating schools to a comfortable temperature, unless the government steps in with aid.

Caroline Derbyshire, CEO of the Saffron Academy Trust, shockingly suggested “sticking kids in body warmers” to cut heating bills, or possibly reducing students’ time in school.

“Everything is on the table – we can’t afford not to be able to pay teachers,” Derbyshire said.

Additionally, nearly two-thirds of British pub and bar operators said they will likely close this winter under current conditions, according to a recent survey. Some are paying 500% more in energy costs.

“This energy bill crisis comes on the back of the most testing of times as businesses try and recover from the Covid crisis and I think it poses an even greater threat to the survival of pubs,” said Heath Ball, managing director of The Frisco Group, which operates three pubs in southeast England. Ball called it a “doomsday scenario” for the industry.

In continental Europe, a Dutch Catholic diocese has elected to reduce its Sunday Mass schedule, in part because of high energy prices.

The Diocese of Roermond named a shortage of priests and low participation rates from parishioners among leading reasons for beginning to offer Sunday Mass only every other week, but these weren’t the only motivating factor.

“Financial arguments can also play a role in the consideration of no longer offering a Eucharist every week, but for example, once every two weeks,” the diocese said on its website.

“Although financial reasons should never be the main item in pastoral affairs, they cannot be disregarded either,” Vicar General Rene Maessen said separately in a letter addressed to the diocese’s parishes explaining the decision.

Market triage: European leaders are formulating new emergency measures this week designed to stem some of this bleeding caused by high energy costs.

The European Commission is proposing to cap revenues earned by firms generating electricity from non-fossil fuel generating sources, while the German government has drawn up a windfall tax on the revenues of electricity suppliers. Those euros will be used to fund relief to consumers.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her own plan this morning to institute an annual cap on household energy bills of 2,500 pounds.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Jeremy Beaman (@jeremywbeaman) and Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep). Email jbeaman@washingtonexaminer.com or bdeppisch@washingtonexaminer.com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

TRUSS ANNOUNCES END OF UK FRACKING BAN: Truss announced a lifting of Britain’s fracking moratorium, something a number of Conservative lawmakers had pressed her predecessor to do in an effort to make the U.K. more independent in its energy supplies.

The announcement, which she made before Parliament today, was part of Truss’s larger plan to counter the energy crisis and to ease the pain on consumers by placing an annual cap on household energy bills.

Truss said it is “vital we take steps to increase our domestic energy supply.” With the end of the moratorium, gas could begin flowing in as soon as six months where localities support it, she also said.

Months in the making: Some of Truss’s fellow Conservative MPs began asked Boris Johnson’s government to take this course of action earlier in the spring after markets started really heating up because of the war. Still some other Conservatives have opposed the lifting of the ban.

The government ordered the British Geological Survey to look into the latest science on the safety of fracking, and a report was finalized, although the findings have not been published.

GAZPROM STARTS PRODUCING LNG: Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom has started producing liquified natural gas at a plant in Portovaya, near the starting point of Nord Stream 1, as it seeks to find alternative buyers for its natural gas supply.

Russia announced an “indefinite” shutdown of Nord Stream 1 late last week, halting all supplies to the EU in response to Western sanctions.

Gazprom Deputy CEO Vitaly Markelov said this week that its Portovaya facility has already produced some 30,000 tons of LNG and is awaiting the arrival of two tankers, which will transport the super-chilled fuel by sea. (Markelov declined to comment on where the shipments will go, but said, “Considering the global markets, our LNG will be in demand.”)

It remains unclear how much LNG Russia can produce and ship to consumers.

MEANWHILE, IN THE NETHERLANDS: Two floating LNG terminals are being set up in the northern Dutch seaport of Eemshaven and will receive their first LNG shipment today, Bloomberg reports— part of the effort to secure replacements for lost Russian pipeline gas.

The two LNG tankers are floating storage and regasifcation units rented by the Netherlands for a period of five years, Bloomberg notes. They are the first in a series of specialized vessels expected to be commissioned by EU leaders. At least 20 new floating LNG terminals have been proposed in continental Europe, including in Germany, Italy, France, and some Baltic countries—which could help offset some of the pain caused by Russia’s natural gas cutoff.

HEAT WAVE LINGERS IN CALIFORNIA, PROMPTING NEW CONSERVATION ALERTS: California Independent System Operator asked consumers to conserve power for the ninth consecutive day today, ordering another Flex Alert during peak demand hours of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. as a scorching heat wave continues to strain the state’s vulnerable power grid.

Demand soared to an all-time high on Tuesday, prompting regulators to issue a Level 3 energy emergency alert (EEA3), the most severe warning and the final step before ordering rotating blackouts. (The state declared a slightly lower Level 2 emergency alert yesterday.)

Grid demand has abated slightly since Tuesday, but high-heat conditions are expected to persist through Saturday when the heat wave is supposed to break. In the meantime, CAISO predicts power demand will reach 51,361 megawatts today and 48,897 tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the scorching temperatures continue: The heat wave has already broken at least a dozen state heat records, according to the National Weather Service. In the capital city Sacramento, temperatures have topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day this month and are slated to rise today to 111 degrees.

PAKISTAN BRACES FOR MASSIVE RECOVERY AFTER MONSOON, ‘SUPER-FLOOD,’ : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned yesterday of a “humongous challenge” ahead as it seeks to recover from catastrophic floods that ravaged the country during its monsoon season— killing 1,400 people and leaving roughly one-third of its territory under water, according to the Financial Times.

Pakistan’s climate change minister described the disaster as the “climate catastrophe of the decade,” causing an estimated $10 billion in destruction and displacing roughly one-fifth of its population.

The stark assessments come ahead of a planned visit tomorrow by U.N. secretary-general António Guterres, who is slated to travel to some of the worst-hit areas. Leaders said they hope the visit will help drive an international response to help its recovery from the disastrous “super-flood.”

The disasters have caused Pakistan’s government to slash its annual growth rate to 2.3% for 2023—less than half of its previous target.

Financial Times US’s gas rescue plan for Europe threatens domestic backlash

Washington Post Driest, wettest, hottest: Sacramento’s troubling trifecta of extremes

E&ENews ‘Huge amount of money’ in climate law could spawn gas bans

9:00-5:00 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is holding its New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum in Burlington, Vermont, consisting of four panel discussions on the electricity and natural gas challenges facing the New England region. The event will be livestreamed here.