Electricity: “blue price” of historic suppliers, pledge of “contractual security”

With the energy crisis, the EDF group noted the return or arrival of nearly 100,000 residential customers per month between August and December 2022, some of which are ironed at the regulated rate.

by Adrien Pécout

Despite the opening of the market to competition, a color still dominates the table. Since 2007, a majority of French people remain faithful to the “blue rate” of historic suppliers (the electrician EDF and small local distribution companies) – the Regulated electricity sales rate (trve), in its official version. In normal times, the public authorities fix and revise this scale twice a year, according to the proposals of the energy regulation commission (CRE).

In times of energy crisis, it’s somewhat different. From Wednesday 1 er February, after a ceiling at + 4 % in 2022, the increase in trve will be contained at + 15 % on average for the year 2023, all taxes included – as the price Gas regulated at Engie (ex-GDF Suez), since January. A way of protecting consumers from strong turbulence on the wholesale market, where suppliers are partially supplied.

Indeed, without ” price shield “ set up by the government, the trve would have rather jumped … 99 %. Almost double, from one year to the next, for residential sites, according to the deliberation of the CRE, communicated Thursday, January 19. In its calculations, the independent administrative authority proceeds by stacking costs, especially those on the wholesale markets.

For 2023, the new gel of the scale will be equivalent to “an average increase of around 20 euros per month for households heating up electricity, instead of 180 euros without a price shield”, said the Prime Minister , Elisabeth Borne, in September 2022. The State undertakes to compensate with EDF the losses linked to the ceiling of the TRV of households or small businesses which are eligible for it. Its shield will also apply to certain market offers offered by competition, those indexed on the “Blue Price”.

According to the entourage of the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, the total amount of compensations due to this measure corresponds to “a forecast cost” of 25 billion euros. Not to mention the drops in revenue, estimated at around 9 billion euros, to also allow this limitation, in particular those related to the internal tax on final electricity consumption.

On the side of EDF, a phenomenon is observed. The group noted the return or arrival of nearly 100,000 residential customers per month between August and December 2022, especially from September to November. Some have returned to the regulated rate, others opted for one of its market offers. The company refrains from specifying its distribution, before the announcement of its results of the past year, Friday, February 17.

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/Media reports cited above.