Will there be enough electricity at Christmas? How much will it cost the French? “The risk of tension” on the electricity network this winter is “increased”, but remains “controllable thanks to a strong mobilization” in favor of energy savings, warned this Wednesday the manager of the electricity transmission network ( RTE). Faced with soaring electricity costs, but also gas – against a backdrop of the drying up of Russian gas -, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, surrounded by the Ministers of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and of the Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, unveiled the measures put in place to deal with the peaks in energy consumption this winter, but also the rising bills.
An increase in bills of 20 euros per month, against 200 without a shield
So far, the price shield has helped protect the French from rising prices. But it was to end on December 31. It will finally be extended at the start of 2023 – with a device that will however be less generous -, announced Élisabeth Borne on Wednesday. It will be valid for “all households, condominiums, social housing, small businesses and the smallest municipalities”.
Thanks to this measure, gas will only increase by 15% in January 2023 and electricity by 15% in February. “The difference will not be carried over to consumer bills (…), it will be paid for by the State,” said the Prime Minister.
Concretely, the rise in prices will lead to an average increase in bills “of the order of 25 euros per month for households that heat with gas, instead of around 200 euros per month without a tariff shield”, and to a “average increase of 20 euros per month for households that heat with electricity, instead of 180 euros per month without a tariff shield”.
Exceptional energy checks for 12 million households
This soaring price “is not insignificant”, acknowledged the head of government, indicating that exceptional energy checks would be paid by the end of the year. “This aid will concern the 12 million poorest households, i.e. four out of ten households, and its amount will be 100 or 200 euros depending on income. “And the Prime Minister to illustrate:” A single mother on the minimum wage with two children will receive 200 euros. A couple with two children who earn 3,000 euros net cumulatively will receive 100 euros. »
This device, intended to mitigate the shock of energy inflation for the most modest households, is now perceived by 6 million people, explained Bruno Le Maire at the beginning of September, and its amount reaches an average of 150 euros. Those who heat themselves with fuel oil and wood may also be eligible for this aid, detailed the Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, before redefining the contours of the EcoWatt signal, “a kind of Smart Bison of energy” .
How much will this exceptional aid amount to? The Minister of the Economy estimated on Wednesday that the “extension of the tariff shield will cost 16 billion euros next year: 11 for gas, 5 for electricity”. The exceptional check will cost him 1.8 billion euros. “It’s already budgeted,” he said. “In 2022, France will spend 2.2% of its GDP to protect our compatriots and its businesses. »
“Sobriety and European solidarity”
Under the effect of the war in Ukraine, the flow of Russian gas to Europe has dried up, which raises fears of shortages in the winter and causes a surge in prices on the markets. However, it is gas prices that lead to electricity prices. In this context, the operator of the French gas network GRTgaz already wanted to reassure on Wednesday about France’s ability to “cope” with gas demand during an “average winter”, while developing its exports to Germany from mid-October. According to Elisabeth Borne, the reserves in France are 95% full.
If the head of government expressed her fears in the event of a “particularly cold winter combined with supply difficulties”, Élisabeth Borne insisted on the fact that “in the most probable scenarios, if everyone takes their responsibilities and shows the necessary sobriety, there will be no cuts”. The government will also launch on October 10 an awareness campaign on energy sobriety. “Obviously, we will not ask for efforts from the French in a situation of fuel poverty,” said the Prime Minister.
Elisabeth Borne also called for “European solidarity” as a means “to avoid cuts and rationing in the most pessimistic scenarios”. “To bring down gas and electricity prices, we are going to act at European and national level. We must first reassure the markets about the risk of shortages. The forecasts of the network managers show that the fears are excessive and that the prices are therefore exaggeratedly high”, she indicated, warning those who “speculate on the crisis and artificially raise prices”. ” It’s not acceptable. We will act against speculation on energy prices,” she said.