The government is trying to put out the start of the fire. “A 10 to 20% increase in electricity prices for the start of 2024 as indicated by the president of the CRE is excluded”, assured Bruno Le Maire this Thursday, September 14 afternoon in a telephone briefing with the press. The statement from the Minister of the Economy, delivered firmly, should reassure French consumers, who have already suffered increases in their electricity bills in August and before February.
In the morning, Emmanuelle Wargon, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), had counted on an upcoming reassessment of the regulated sales tariff (TRV) of electricity in France at the beginning of 2024. “It’s still a little early to make the equation […]we will have to wait to see the prices at the end of 2023. Nevertheless […]we will be in a zone of 10-20% roughly,” she anticipated during a press conference.
The actual increase will not be confirmed before the end of the year, because the decision to pass on, or not, this increase in prices to the French bill depends on the government. The regulated rate, which benefits the majority of households, is reviewed twice a year, on February 1st and August 1st. But the Energy Regulatory Commission’s mission is to calculate a theoretical tariff, based on market prices. “Throughout this period of crisis, we have clearly separated the calculation of theoretical regulated sales prices, which is the application of the calculation formula, from the decision that comes from the government, namely the part which is acceptable and the part which must be financed by the state budget.had also underlined Emmanuelle Wargon this Thursday.
For example, the increase in the price of electricity had been capped at 15% in February 2023, whereas it should have been 99% without intervention from the executive, according to CRE estimates.
“Save money”
The French state had put in place a tariff shield to counteract additional European energy costs linked in particular to the offensive in Ukraine. But the measure began to be lowered gradually since the beginning of August, causing a 10% increase in regulated prices.
Gabriel Attal, then Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, had warned at the beginning of July that leaving “gradually the tariff shield” by 2024 was necessary to “save money”. The government has estimated its cost at 110 billion euros from 2021 to 2023. For the 2024 budget, its reduction should generate savings of nearly 14 billion euros, according to Bercy.
Update : at 4:16 p.m., with the declaration of Bruno Le Maire.