The tariff shield or the allocation of additional energy vouchers have reached their limits. The number of interventions for unpaid bills synonymous with cuts or power limitations among consumers, increased by 10% in 2022, announced Olivier Challan Belval, the energy mediator, in a press release, Thursday March 30.
” For the first time “the year 2022 will have been marked by “a decrease in power cuts” by 38%: 157,000 cuts were recorded, compared to 254,000 in 2021. “This development is mainly due to the fact that some suppliers, in particular EDF, following the recommendations of the national energy ombudsman, have decided to carry out power reductions in the event of non-payment rather than power cuts. electricity “underlines the mediator in a press release.
Increase in the number of power reduction operations
In fact, according to the mediator, most of the interventions for unpaid debts concerned “power reductions, which are less penalizing for the consumers concerned”because they make it possible to ensure a minimum service: light, refrigerator, telephone charging, etc.
Their number jumped in 2022: 610,000 power reductions were recorded, an increase of 36% compared to 2021 and a multiplication by 2.2 since 2019, specifies the mediator. About less than a third – 226,000 – were made by EDF, according to the incumbent supplier. Since 1is April 2022, EDF has chosen to no longer suspend the power supply in the event of non-payment by its customers, but to reduce their power to 1 kVa or 3 kVa, regardless of the time of year.
A decree published on February 26, 2023 is now binding on all suppliers: they must supply a minimum electricity supply of 1 kVa for at least sixty days, prior to a power cut in the event of unpaid bills for households benefiting from the energy check and housing solidarity fund, equipped with a smart meter.
With this measure, this year the end of the winter break on 1is April will therefore no longer be synonymous with direct power cuts for tenants struggling to pay rent and bills. ” We must go further “argues the energy ombudsman, calling for power cuts to be replaced by a reduction in the power supply, in the event of non-payment. “The current energy crisis raises questions about the long-term protection systems for the most vulnerable consumers”he added in the press release.