the essential
The 2025 finance bill risks disrupting the financing of electricity infrastructure in rural areas. By replacing the current system with a new, more uncertain taxation, local authorities fear that efforts to renovate the network will collapse… and accentuate inequalities between cities and the countryside.
We will have understood it. The time has come for savings in state services. And they risk weighing on the financing of the repair and modernization of electrification in rural areas. Energy, as we know, is a right for everyone, regardless of where they live or work. But a new legislative provision risks weakening this fragile balance.
“Until now, there was a system set in stone, managed by the State, to help local authorities,” summarizes François Millet of the Departmental Energy Union of Tarn (SDET) renamed Territoire d’énergie. “We call it, electricity pays for electricity. To put it simply, a tax was levied by Enedis to finance the work carried out by unions in rural areas. Please note, this was not a blank check. The state controlled the projects. But we knew where we were going over several years,” summarizes our interlocutor.
However, the government has decided, in its 2025 finance bill, to change the situation. “It will now be a fraction of the tax on electricity consumption. But we do not know the percentage that will be voted on each year. We are afraid that the modernization of the electricity network in the rural world will become the poor relation, abandoning territorial equality in the energy sector. This would be very impactful for a region like Tarn. »
The end of equal treatment throughout the country?
The SDET adds: “This money is necessary for the renovation of the network, which wears out over the years, like everything else. We must also accentuate modernization to cope with the energy transition. We are demanding more and more electricity to move away from fossil fuels. If we cut aid, we will find ourselves facing a wall. »
Concretely, what could be the future problems? “We will have difficulty setting up electrical terminals for cars, which require a significant flow. This will also be the case for the installation of photovoltaic panels. Even teleworking could be impacted. With this change, France will be cut in two. »
That of the cities where there will be no problems and the rural areas which could see the train of modernity pass by, without being able to board it. Today, there is a period of lobbying by departmental unions to ask deputies not to vote for this project. The standoff is on.
