Energy Ministers from the European Union were recently found out how important saving energy and resolving current problems are when they ended up sitting in the dark during a meeting on Thursday. A short blackout disrupted a discussion on, of all things, energy efficiency.

The lights went out around 10 a.m. British time. After initially halting talks, the ministers opted to go on debating how the 25-nation bloc can reduce its use of electricity and fuel. “They decided to continue working in the darkness,” an EU official present at the meeting said. “Delegations expressed the wish to continue the debate.”

Power came back shortly after the debate restarted, but the meeting was interrupted for nearly 30 minutes. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs apologized to ministers for the disruption.

“I hope that the next meetings will not be disturbed by blackouts but it definitely shows how important energy is,” he said. An EU official said several European institution buildings in Brussels were affected.