Unity is strength. Like consumer groups, more and more French towns and communities are coming together to negotiate a gas and electricity contract with energy suppliers. Objective: to bring prices down and achieve significant savings in public money. A trend that has been considerably strengthened with the energy crisis of recent months. In Nantes, for example, the metropolis federates its 24 member municipalities since 2016. The legislative obligation to put electricity operators in competition was a click.
“Getting together in a group was the insurance for the members to be a negotiating force to obtain competitive prices. It also allows them to share knowledge rather than working on their own,” justifies Emmanuel Dion, project manager for energy management in Nantes Métropole. A second group purchase was concluded the following year for gas. For these two experiments, the results are considered “very positive”.
“The question of leaving the group does not arise, assures Emmanuel Dion. On the contrary, we mainly have municipalities and partners who want to join us. Communities that are not there have to deal with a price that has followed recent gas developments. A price which varies every month and which could go up to 300 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), where we, in the group, we are rather at 15 euros per MWh. »
An easier multiplayer strategy
Depending on the market situation, the group purchase can be made at a fixed rate, for three years. “That’s what we did for the gas. We launched the market for our current contract a little in advance, during the Covid crisis, because we thought there was an opportunity to seize at that time. The purchase can also be done in “dynamic price” with short-term offers which are sometimes only valid for a few hours. “We try to understand the market and adapt to it in order to achieve good business,” explains Emmanuel Dion. But anticipation is very difficult. There are a lot of parameters that affect prices. Depending on the choices, there may be impacts in millions of euros on the invoice. It requires know-how, in-depth knowledge of the sector, which takes time. In Nantes, three people (1.5 full-time equivalents) work on this mission. “A municipality alone does not have the means to do this. This is the advantage of being grouped together. »
This strategy, combined with the group’s ability to negotiate, is reassuring in times of crisis. “On electricity, for example, we suffer an increase like everyone else, but it remains reasonable. Not all communities are so lucky. The mayor of Bouaye, a town of 8,000 inhabitants in the Nantes suburbs who buys his gas alone, recently saw his tariff proposals increase by 1,000%. ” You realize ? It is not possible, ”laments Jacques Garreau (PS). Given this new financial context, his municipality thus preferred “ postpone the project for a new school group, until it stabilizes. And it “will definitely participate” in the next group purchase of gas carried by Nantes Métropole (end of 2023).
If the interest of a collective purchasing approach therefore seems to have largely convinced, it cannot be improvised. “It’s not easy, confirms Emmanuel Dion. We need to discuss a lot, identify the needs, the equipment, the projects of each other. When ordering a quantity from a supplier, it must be as fine as possible. Especially with the current prices. »