A time bomb. From July 1, “2.6 million households will have to give up the regulated gas tariff and subscribe to a market offer” and “the regulated tariff will of course cease to be the concrete reference for indexing many market offers “, According to the CLCV consumer association in a letter sent to Emmanuel Macron in early December.
This end of the regulated tariff will have a very concrete consequence for individuals with, according to the CLCV, an increase in the bill of 40 to 60%. Indeed, even if the price of European natural gas returned at the start of the year to its lowest level since February 2022, nothing allows us to ensure, according to the association, that this is a lasting trend.
“We are asking for the end of the regulated tariff to be postponed for two years to weather the storm”, explained CLCV General Delegate François Carlier, adding that this regulated tariff is of a “protective” nature for individuals while the market has become more and more “toxic”.
Condominiums or HLM already penalized
“The crisis has highlighted a new quality of regulated sales tariffs, in electricity and gas, which is quite simply that of contractual security”, argues the CLCV. According to François Carlier, the crisis has also illustrated the fact “that a tariff can be radically modified at any time”.
Currently, for gas as for electricity, there are several types of tariffs: the regulated sales tariffs (TRV) are marketed by the historical suppliers, EDF in electricity and Engie in gas. At the same time, there are contracts indexed to this tariff, and market offers at free prices, variable or not. The decision to end the regulated gas tariff stems from a 2017 Council of State decision deeming it to be contrary to European law.
However, according to the association, condominiums or HLM which, unlike households, have no regulated tariff, are already penalized. If they benefit from a tariff shield in the form of aid that must be requested a posteriori, this does not absorb the increase in tariffs. “The energy suppliers pay the subsidy to the customer sometimes with a long and random delay in co-ownership”, underlines the association which also observes “a scarcity of offers” and “very high prices”.