I'm from Sweden and hearing those energy prices really caught me off guard. With taxes and fees we pay ~€0.1 per kWh on average.
I have stopped caring about when house hold appliances run, our main energy consumers are heating (during the cold months) and charging the electric car.
>Is it common in Europe that you can't turn on red?
Yes it's almost always the case.
Our intersections are designed a bit different from yours. In ours the stoplights are placed a bit before the intersection, compared to your lights in the intersection, or right after it. This doesn't invite to right-on-red as you do not have that clear of an overview of the incoming traffic from left.
I have stopped caring about when house hold appliances run, our main energy consumers are heating (during the cold months) and charging the electric car.