“It cannot be done on the same scale as for very small businesses, […] it still costs a lot of money to the state and energy suppliers. […] We will rather go on a case-by-case basis rather than on a rule for all. These are the words of the Minister Delegate for SMEs Olivia Grégoire, pronounced this Monday on France 2.
On Friday, the government announced the cap for the year 2023 of the electricity tariff for VSEs – craftsmen, bakers, dry cleaners or even small restaurateurs… – who renewed their electricity contract at a very high price in the second half of 2022 , to be able to continue working. However, as declared by Minister Olivia Grégoire, this system will not be applied to SMEs.
Do not “sprinkle under which are the under of the French”
Friday’s announcement – no more than 280 euros per MWh on average over the year 2023 – concerns only some of the very small companies, which have high metered power, greater than 36 kVa, the Ministry of Health pointed out on Monday. Energetic transition.
They are approximately 600,000 affected by such power on the meter in France, but they have not all resigned a new contract during the last six months of 2022: thus, “only a part of these 600,000 VSEs should request the revision measure of the contract”, according to the same source.
In the process, professional unions have called for the extension of this maximum tariff to medium-sized businesses. “We have to be careful to help those who need it most and not to go dispatch, sprinkle money which is the money of the French”, replied on France 2 Olivia Gregory.
Recognizing “aberrant” cases, with energy bills sometimes tenfold, she recalled that medium-sized companies can refer to the energy mediator and seek other aid.
On the one hand, the electricity shock absorber open to companies with less than 250 employees and less than 50 million in turnover. And on the other hand, the help desk for the payment of electricity and gas bills, for companies with a large energy bill, equivalent to at least 3% of turnover.