the “toll” risks making them significantly heavier

The Court of Auditors is once again sounding the alarm. Consumers’ electricity bills are likely to skyrocket in the coming years given the way public electricity networks are financed. It could increase by 10 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) between 2023 and 2030, which corresponds to a 21% increase in the tariff for using public electricity networks. Turpe pays network managers, RTE for high and very high voltage and Enedis for medium and low voltage, as well as some local distribution companies (ELD), such as in Strasbourg, Grenoble or Bordeaux. In a way, a toll that electricity pays to be able to go from production centers to consumers.

However, network managers have enormous investment needs to be able not only to maintain and modernize their infrastructures, but also to adapt them to the new situation. The proliferation of solar and wind farms implies more connections, as does the electrification of certain uses. The most telling is the development of some 150,000 electric car charging stations, which had to be connected to the network. Ultimately, RTE is counting on an investment envelope of 100 billion euros between 2023 and 2040 and Enedis on 96 billion.

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A long-awaited increase in consumption

These expenses, underlines the Court of Auditors, could be “neutralized under the effect of the expected increase in consumption, which investments are supposed to accompany”. Alas, for the moment, electricity consumption in France is at half mast, in particular thanks to the efforts made for sobriety and efficiency, but also because of a slowdown in French industrial production. Conclusion, the Court considers possible “significant price increases in the medium term for users who do not benefit from Turpe reductions”. The Court also warns against temporary risks of oversizing networks, intended to anticipate increased needs. RTE, for its part, is increasing public interventions to explain that these anticipations are necessary to support the reindustrialization of territories and reduce the time required for connection to the network. Which is a valuable competitiveness tool for the country.

The Court throws another stone into the pond: that of the question of the remuneration of RTE and Enedis by Turpe. It would be too favorable to these two companies which each benefited from a “financial gain of nearly 500 million euros”over the period 2017-2023. Among the criticisms on this technical point, there is notably the assessment of the remuneration of the «risque» linked to the investments made. This remuneration would be too high considering that the risk is minimal, these networks being essential. The court therefore recommends adjusting the dividend distribution policy of RTE and Enedis and their method of remuneration.

Finally, the Court looked at a point raised by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) which considers that the share of electricity consumption in the bill, around 30%, must remain sufficiently high to encourage consumers to prioritize sobriety and energy efficiency. If the share linked to this consumption becomes too low compared to taxes (excise on electricity and VAT) and Turpe, customers could be less inclined to adopt virtuous behavior. For the Court “the volume of consumption remains the overwhelming determining factor”. This leaves adjustment margins for the network.