It’s going to be hot for the wallet this winter. This Sunday, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire announced that the electricity bill would increase on February 1 between 8.6% and 9.8% depending on the contracts, in accordance with the government’s commitment to gradually end the “tariff shield” put in place at the end of 2021.
“The electricity bill on peak/off-peak rates will increase by 9.8% on February 1 and on base rates by 8.6%. That is to say that for 97% of French households the increase will be below 10%,” he declared on the set of the 8 p.m. news on TF1. This concerns nearly 20 million households subscribing to electricity, including 10.6 million at the base rate, that is to say EDF’s “blue” rate, fixed without off-peak hours.
For around 400,000 individual subscribers who have subscribed to a so-called “peak day reduction” option, the price will increase by 10.1%. These subscribers pay a more advantageous rate but in exchange undertake to reduce their consumption on days when national consumption is very high, on very cold days for example. For small businesses and non-residential subscribers, the increase will be 5.2 to 8% depending on the contracts.
“This is the last increase […] for the year 2024 »
The government had committed that the revision of the regulated electricity tariff, which takes place each year on February 1 and August 1, will be limited this time to an increase of 10% maximum. Previously, this regulated tariff had increased by 4% in February 2022, 15% in February 2023 and 10% in August 2023. The total increase over two years is therefore of the order of 43 to 44%.
“It is a difficult decision, but it is a decision which is necessary to guarantee our capacity to invest in new electricity production capacities and then to definitively get out of it whatever it costs,” he said. justified. And the Minister of the Economy promised: “This is the last increase in this tax for the year 2024. The next one will be on February 1, 2025, we will return to the situation which was that before the tariff shield”.