Governments are scrambling to find ways to limit costs to consumers as scant natural gas reserves present yet another potential problem, exposing the continent to even more price spikes and possible shortages if it's a cold winter.

Nieves Leal, who lives in a working class neighborhood in Madrid, has already seen her electricity bill increase from an average of 90-100 euros ($106-118) every two months two years ago to 158 euros ($187) in June, according to the last invoice. News of all-time high wholesale prices and the political debate around them has her worried since average prices have already risen 35% over the past year.