For the 12 million households who left EDF’s very protective regulated electricity tariff (TRV) thinking they were paying less, the bad news may still be ahead. Many alternative suppliers are, in fact, in very great financial difficulty, even if“there are no imminent bankruptcies”we stress at the Ministry of Energy Transition, which says it demonstrates a “great vigilance on the subject”.
Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher also urgently organized a meeting with professionals in the sector, Thursday, August 25, to take stock of the situation.
In fact, apart from the very big players in the market, such as TotalEnergies, Engie or the Italian Eni, who have solid backs, these operators no longer earn money and are above all looking to do the big back. Prices have been multiplied by 7 in the space of a year on the wholesale markets and the volumes of Arenh, the electricity of nuclear origin that EDF is obliged to sell almost at cost price to its competitors, are insufficient to cover their costs.
Less and less offers
A sign does not deceive. On the site of the energy ombudsman, which lists the offers, there are only about forty left, i.e. half as many as a year ago, and there are almost a third fewer suppliers, i.e. around twenty. “In reality, more and more suppliers are no longer accepting new customers, which shows how the opening of the electricity market to competition in 2007 is a failure. The best thing to do is to go back to EDF’s TRV, which offers a price guarantee and contractual security”slice François Carlier, the general delegate of the consumer association CLCV.
Some suppliers have already thrown in the towel. At the end of 2021, Hydroption, which included the City of Paris among its clients, was placed in compulsory liquidation. Ditto for Planet Yes. Bulb and Leclerc Énergies have withdrawn from the market and CDiscount Énergie is no longer accepting new customers.
The decision of the Spanish Iberdrola, in mid-August, to ask 2% of its customers at the end of the contract to find a new operator has cast a chill and raised fears that the movement will spread. Agnès Pannier-Runacher asked once again that the suppliers respect their commitments for their fixed price contracts.
Suspicions of abuse
The threat of sanctions is clearly brandished vis-à-vis operators who may have committed abuses around the Arenh. The quantities of electricity obtained by each operator are fixed from their subscriber bases between April and October.
Some are therefore suspected of sending customers away at the start of winter, by announcing very large price increases, in order to then be able to resell the electricity obtained at low prices at a much higher price on the markets. With a MWh bought at €42 and sold at €600, or even more, the profit can be significant. “Everyone thought about it and some did it so they wouldn’t have to go out of business”explains a supplier on condition of anonymity.
Upcoming increases
According to the comparator HelloWatt, Ohm Energy has just announced to its customers an increase of 84% compared to the regulated tariffs from September 1, while promising tariffs lower than the TRV, if they now subscribe to an offer that does not will only be effective on March 31, 2023.
Similarly, Mint forecasts an average revaluation of +111% against the TRV from October 1. And some Mega Energy offers are indexed to the market price and are therefore likely to increase soon, underlines HelloWatt.
The Energy Regulation Commission (CRE) has just asked several suppliers for explanations. But “ there is no alert at this stage “, we specify at the Ministry of Energy Transition. For his part, the energy mediator Olivier Challan Belval has decided to seize the repression of fraud against Ohm Énergie, the supplier which currently accumulates the most complaints with its services.