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The European Union will unveil a package of measures this week aimed at pulling down surging gas and power prices that are stoking record-high inflation, hampering industrial activity, and inflicting sky-high bills upon聽citizens ahead of winter.

At the start of this month, Russia said it would not reopen聽its main Nord Stream 1 pipeline to supply Europe 鈥� the latest in聽a string of supply cuts, which Moscow blames on Western聽sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.

The European Commission is due to set out the EU proposals聽on Wednesday and governments can then thrash out the details,聽possibly approving them at a Sept. 30 meeting of energy聽ministers.

Here is what鈥檚 in a draft of the European Commission鈥檚聽upcoming proposals, seen by Reuters.

Less revenue for non-gas power plants

The draft EU proposal would claw back revenue from聽electricity generators that do not run on gas and require聽governments to spend the cash on cushioning consumers and聽industry from soaring energy bills.

In the EU system, gas plants often set the price of聽electricity. Non-gas fueled power plants sell their electricity聽at the resulting high prices 鈥� even though they do not have to聽pay huge bills for gas.

Brussels wants to skim off any excess revenue that wind,聽solar, nuclear, and biomass plants make under this system,聽according to the draft, which could change before it is聽published.

The measure would apply a price limit per megawatt hour on聽the revenue these generators get for their power in the market.聽The revenue cap would be applied after power transactions are聽settled, so it would not directly affect prices in Europe鈥檚聽exchange-traded electricity market, the draft said. It would聽exclude revenues made from government subsidy schemes.

Coal plants would not be covered because their fuel costs聽have also increased sharply this year, the draft said.

An earlier draft of the proposal, seen by Reuters, had聽included a 200 euro/MWh revenue limit. Germany鈥檚 front-year聽electricity price hit a record high of more than 1000 euros/MWh聽last month and is currently trading at around 460 euros/MWh.

Industry groups say most of Europe鈥檚 wind farms are not聽reaping windfall profits from high energy prices because they聽sell their power under fixed-price contracts, many of them聽government support schemes 鈥� raising questions about how much聽money the EU measure would raise.

Fossil fuel firms will share profits

Companies that have made bumper profits from selling fossil聽fuels at record prices would be required to make a financial聽contribution to help citizens and industries grappling with聽sky-high bills, under the EU鈥檚 draft plans.

EU countries would introduce a temporary 鈥渟olidarity聽contribution鈥� for oil, gas, coal, and refining companies聽established in the EU. These firms would make a contribution of聽a third of their 鈥渢axable surplus profits made in the fiscal聽year 2022,鈥� according to the draft.

Some countries including Italy have already introduced a聽windfall profit tax on energy firms. The draft said Brussels聽would put in place a minimum rate for all EU countries, but聽governments could choose to go higher.

Cutting electricity demand

The draft EU proposal would impose a mandatory target for聽countries to cut electricity consumption this winter, to ensure聽Europe has enough fuel to last the colder months.

EU gas storage is now 84% full, exceeding the EU鈥檚聽pre-winter filling target. But analysts say Europe will still聽need to slash gas use over winter, to avoid storage facilities聽running dry. EU countries have already agreed to curb their gas聽demand this winter 鈥� and electricity use could be next.

During periods of 鈥減eak鈥� electricity prices, EU countries聽would be required to curb their power use by an as-yet specified聽percentage, the draft said.

EU countries would also face a voluntary target to reduce聽electricity. An earlier draft had included a voluntary 10% cut聽in the coming months, compared with the average for the same聽month over 2017-2021, and a 5% cut during peak hours.

Emergency relief for power firms

EU countries have also tasked Brussels with designing聽鈥漞mergency liquidity instruments鈥� to help energy companies聽facing soaring collateral needs.

Utilities sell some power in advance to secure a certain聽price but must post a cash deposit with exchanges in case they聽default before the power is produced. Soaring power prices have聽meant firms must post bigger margin deposits, leaving some聽struggling to find the extra cash.

EU officials said plans for emergency liquidity support were聽still being drafted, and would likely be published later than聽Wednesday. A note published by the Commission last week聽mentioned some options that EU policymakers are exploring.

鈥淭his might involve accepting a wider range of assets as聽collateral for margining purpose, facilitating collateral聽transformation, bank guarantees and, as a liquidity provider,聽involve state guarantee schemes to support such liquidity mechanisms,鈥� the Commission note said.

No gas cap divides bloc

The draft EU proposal did not include a gas price cap 鈥� an聽idea that has divided the bloc鈥檚 member states.聽EU countries have asked Brussels to propose a cap but聽disagree on whether this should apply to all imported gas,聽pipeline flows, or wholesale gas trading.

Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark oppose a general gas聽price cap, warning that it could leave countries struggling to聽attract supplies in price-competitive global markets, and聽endanger Europe鈥檚 winter energy security.

Italy and Poland are among the supporters that say capping聽gas prices would pull down bills for citizens and industries.

The EU has also backed away from an earlier plan to impose a聽price cap on Russian gas. Countries including Hungary and聽Austria had opposed that idea in case Moscow retaliated by聽cutting off the dwindling supplies it still sends to the EU.

This story was reported by Reuters.聽Additional reporting by Susanna聽Twidale.