Thanks to soaring electricity prices, the electricity network operator has generated exceptional revenue in 2022, surpluses that the Energy Regulation Commission has chosen to redistribute.
The operator of the electricity transmission network RTE will pay back nearly two billion euros to its users, mainly distributors, by March 15, due to the sharp increase in its revenues, the Regulatory Commission announced on Monday. energy (CRE). “CRE sets the amount of RTE’s exceptional payment to users of its network at 1.939 billion euros for 2022“, she announced in a press release. “The sharp rise in wholesale electricity prices at European level observed in 2022 has led to significant variations in the costs and revenues of network operators, resulting for RTE in a strong surplus, mainly linked to the increase in revenues from interconnection“, reminded the CRE, which wants this surplus to be returned in advance to network users.
The main beneficiaries of this payment are the distributors, operators of the low and medium voltage network, such as Enedis and certain local distribution companies which act as intermediaries between RTE and the end users. These network managershave the particularity of being confronted with a significant increase in their charges, in particular for the coverage of electrical losses“, according to the CRE, which specifies that this payment will result “by a lower increase in tariffs for the use of public electricity distribution networks (TURPE HTA-BT) in the coming years».
This restitution also concerns nearly 380 industrial customers, including 200 electro-intensive (large electricity consumers), in the chemical, metallurgy and paper/cardboard industries, RTE indicated in the fall. For these manufacturers, this exceptional payment “will be deducted from their invoice under the TURPE HTB“, specifies the CRE. It will make it possible to attenuate in the longer term possible “tariff catch-upswhich would be applied to consumers due to additional costs incurred by these distributors, according to RTE.
Read alsoElectricity: only 30% of companies eligible for aid came forward
The surplus comes in particular from tolls paid under European law by electricity importing or exporting suppliers to be able to use the cross-border interconnections operated by RTE. These revenues depend on the volumes exchanged at the borders as well as the electricity price differentials between France and its neighbours. But in 2022, “widening price differentials between France and its neighbors have led to considerable growth in revenue from cross-border interconnections“, had underlined the manager.