consumer associations fear the “jungle” of offers

2023-06-12 15:26:09

Aurelia

At the corner of the street, a soldier from the mobile gendarmerie. Ohm Energie has its head office near the Elysée. A prestigious address… but unoccupied. No plaque indicates a presence at 10, rue de Penthièvre, in the 8^e Parisian district.

In practice : Article reserved for our subscribers Gas: the end of regulated prices is approaching for many households

On the other side of the road, a collection center redirects customer letters to a service provider responsible for digitizing them, in Hauts-de-Seine. ” Our offices “responds, in writing, this small electricity and gas supplier, which is one of those with the highest rate of disputes (in 2022, with Mint Energie and Elmy-Greenyellow, according to the national energy ombudsman) , can be found elsewhere in Paris, in the heights of the Montparnasse tower.

This example among others reminds us how difficult it can be to find one’s bearings – including in the literal sense – since the European liberalization of the energy market. In nearly sixteen years, French households have already seen a number of new offers and new sellers compete with the historic suppliers EDF and Engie (formerly GDF), respectively for electricity and gas. “If you ask me to name the suppliers, I am far from knowing them all, the users do not end up in this jungle”assures Eddie Jacquemart, president of the National Housing Confederation.

All-out speculation

And from this point of view, it is not about to work out. At 1^is In July, the regulated gas sales tariff will disappear, ie the tariff set each month by the public authorities for heating, cooking or hot water. Only the historic operator Engie had the right to market it, in addition to local distribution companies.

Petition in support, the unions in the sector call for saving this tariff protection for individuals, as well as making it possible again for communities and businesses. A guarantee, they believe, against all-out speculation. “Despite the promises (…) to lower bills, the price of gas has more than doubled since the opening to competition”affirmed, in May, the central social and economic committee of the distribution network manager GRDF, a subsidiary of Engie.

Consumer associations are already fearing an upsurge in canvassing, even if the gas market has fewer suppliers and customers than the electricity market. On May 23, the Paris court did not condemn the French branch of the Italian ENI to pay 100,000 euros in damages. A sanction for example, after “aggressive business practices and sales practices without prior ordering” between 2019 and 2020, specifies the association Consumption, Housing and Living environment, at the origin of the summons to justice.

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