Summoned by the government to continue their efforts, they are calling for the continuation of certain aid.
Now is not the time to relax the effort. The Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, granted this Wednesday a half satisfaction to the bosses of the distribution summoned to her ministry. The energy saving measures taken by the sector are paying off. Last week, consumption in the residential and tertiary sectors was thus 8.5% lower than its 2021 level, according to RTE. The distribution, which accounts for 50% of the consumption of the tertiary sector, has done its part at about this level.
“It is one of the sectors which mobilized the earliest and presented us with the most precise measuresnotes Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Those that work are common sense: lower light intensity, lower temperature, closing doors. But this is only the beginning, it must continue throughout the winter.»
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The bosses of the large distribution do not say the opposite. “We also have an interest in it, to keep our costs down”, underlines Tina Schuler, boss of the Casino and Géant brands. The enthusiasm of stores to save energy even surprises some managers. “We should rather slow down our teams a littlelaughs Didier Duhaupand, acting president of the Musketeers (Intermarché and Netto). They tend to dim the light by 50% and set the heating to 17°C. But it is true that in winter, customers come well covered.»
Solar panels
Some practices will remain after the winter. “Shifting ice cream production to the fish counter, we should have done it before. Turning off the neon signs after closing is symbolic, but it is acquired, there will be no turning back”, notes Thierry Cotillard, the boss of Perifem, one of the distribution lobbies. Efforts will have to be intensified to achieve the objective set by the government of a 10% reduction in energy consumption in two years. The emergency measures were to reduce it by 6%. They seem a bit more efficient. But to go up to 10%, additional investments will have to be made. Only 65% of refrigerators are equipped with doors, which allow significant energy savings, notes Thierry Cotillard.
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The stakes are high, because these cold cabinets alone consume half of the electricity consumed in supermarkets. However, the tax system which allows this investment to be over-depreciated expires in three weeks… Perifem is asking for its renewal, for the moment in vain. The obligation to install shade structures on car parks in order to fix photovoltaic panels is another casus belli A delay that would allow us to wait for prices to drop would be welcome,” underlines Didier Duhaupand.
In the meantime, mass distribution, where 60% of French people go more than once a week, is an excellent communication relay for the government. He will soon deploy a communication campaign there calling on the French to take five steps to reduce their energy consumption, “like their store”.