The Energy Regulatory Commission asked on Thursday Bordeaux gasa historic supplier in the Bordeaux area, to review its prices after customers denounced the increase in their bills.
“I have contacted Gaz de Bordeaux so that they can offer a better general public offer, allowing them to fully benefit from the tariff shield”, tweeted the president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) Emmanuelle Wargon.
Contracts expiring in November
In her message, the former minister takes up an article from Journal South West having reported, on Wednesday, price increases “of more than 450% on expiring contracts” for certain customers of Gaz de Bordeaux. These are contracts at market prices locked in for three years by the supplier.
These contracts expiring in November, the operator recently offered its subscribers new prices reflecting current prices, that is to say much higher. The regional daily cited the example of a customer who had previously paid around 5 cents per kWh including tax and would now have to pay up to six times more.
Discounts will actually limit the increase, assures Gaz de Bordeaux
Contacted by AFP, Gaz de Bordeaux replied that these amounts did not include the tariff shield, the scope of which has just been extended by the government and that discounts would in reality limit the increase in invoices – up to 110 euros for the next.
According to the National Energy Ombudsman (MNE), these discounts are indeed possible since the extension, to September 1, of the system for compensation by the State for the losses of energy suppliers, which until then only concerned regulated contracts or contracts indexed to the regulated tariff.
“We are indeed looking with the CRE how to make the price shield more visible and understandable in our offers for the customer”, commented Cyril Vincent, general manager of Gaz de Bordeaux, after Emmanuelle Wargon’s announcement.
Invoices that will remain higher than those paid so far
According to the MNE price comparator, which can be consulted on the internet, the price per kWh applied by Gaz de Bordeaux in its new contracts, once the discount is included, is reduced compared to the prices initially announced to customers and relayed in the press. , according to calculations by AFP.
Still, the future bills will be much higher than those paid, so far, by subscribers benefiting from old blocked tariffs, faced with an inevitable catch-up in market prices when their contract expires, recognizes Gaz de Bordeaux.
Quasi-monopoly situation
The pill goes all the more badly locally as this historical independent supplier, as we find in other cities such as Strasbourg or Grenoble, is in a situation of quasi-monopoly on the market of the private individuals. Only the Italian group ENI has a small market share, but it no longer takes on new customers.
The 220,000 Gaz de Bordeaux subscribers cannot therefore change supplier, given the state of available supply. This situation is the subject of recurring complaints to the mediator, for whom the situation “has worsened” with the extinction of the regulated tariffs since 2019. The last will disappear on July 1, 2023.
Officially invited to subscribe to a market offer, the holders of these contracts currently have no other choice than to turn to the same Gaz de Bordeaux.