A change coming? “The single European electricity market does not work, it is aberrant”, said Friday the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, affirming to wish to discuss Monday with his European counterparts of the revision of a system according to him “obsolete “.
“We must thoroughly review the functioning of the single electricity market: the French pay the bill in a way that is incomprehensible to them and totally inefficient from an economic point of view,” said the minister on Public Senate.
“From Monday, at the meeting of finance ministers, I will ask the question”
“We in France get our electricity from nuclear power plants and hydraulic energy, so we have carbon-free energy and a very low cost, but the market […] fact that there is an alignment of electricity prices in France on gas prices, ”he detailed. “So we are taking full force this increase in gas prices even though we have our independence in terms of electricity production: it is totally absurd”, ruled the minister.
“We are not going to continue like this,” he concluded. “From Monday, at the meeting of finance ministers, I will put the question on the table […] I will say: the single electricity market operates according to rules which are obsolete ”.
Electricity prices are skyrocketing on the wholesale market, driven by gas prices and CO2 emission quotas. This could translate into a sharp increase for consumers next year, when the Energy Regulatory Commission will have to propose a new evolution of regulated tariffs.