The Gironde department has crossed the threshold of five thousand households supported via its system to get the most modest out of fuel poverty. THE SLIME (the local intervention service for energy management) was created in 2017 and brings together several local actors, associations and companies under the leadership of the department to help Gironde households outside the Bordeaux metropolitan area to carry out work and make their more pleasant homes to live in. These beneficiaries are identified by social workers, associations or others. They are the ones who alert the department.
Four out of ten households out of fuel poverty
When Didier, this resident of Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac in Gironde looks at his latest electricity bill, he rolls his eyes. “I passed from a hundred euros per month to 300 euros“, breathes the fifty-year-old. This former construction worker receives a visit from a SLIME employee to evaluate and make a diagnosis of his 130 m² house.
“I touch a little over 600 euros from CAF so I might as well tell you that I cannot pay such a monthly payment. It almost doubled“, he adds “I know that the kitchen has changed, my oven is electric, the hobs too“For his part, Gauthier Hauberoche, one of the SLIME advisors, observes several points. “Already the cumulus is not in a heating room and therefore it consumes more than it should, then the electric meter, if you install a Linky meter you could see your consumption in real time. There are also these old fridges full of gel and limescale to replace. There is also a wood stove to install, all of which will give you quite a reduction on your electricity bill” he slips to Didier.
Didier takes note of all this advice and the SLIME advisor will stay in contact with the former construction employee to help him with these procedures. “What we see is that a quarter of the households benefiting from SLIME, these households have seen their energy consumption drop by more than 25%. And that is very clearly, these are the results of the first level of intervention of the device, the small adjustments, properly adjusting the thermostat if there is one, removing the forced operation of a water heater, etc..” analyzes Laurent Vitry, who pilots this system.
Twelve million French people affected by energy poverty
Four out of ten households in Gironde which have benefited from this energy management system have emerged from energy poverty according to the department. “For others, more advanced work will need to be done, for example. Despite everything we see is that most of the households visited have access to this right and see their energy bill drop at the end of the month.“, would like to emphasize Jean-Luc Gleyze, the president of the Gironde department. He is now targeting a thousand households helped per year.
Among these homes, Maria saw your electricity bill significantly reduced after having benefited from SLIME. “At the time when I received my electricity bill, I saw 300 euros per month. I stay in my chair and I start to cry. I only had 900 euros of disabled adult allowance. My social worker at the time contacted SLIME and they came to my house to see if I was greedy. They realized that it wasn't, but they noticed that my accommodation was a thermal sieve.
“From there they did work, insulation, double glazing on the windows and then the pellet stove. There was some for more than 24,000 euros, 5,800 euros from me. I had a zero interest loanfifty euros per month. And everything started, a year or two later I went to 60 euros bill per month. Now I heat myself without being afraid to look at my meter“, explains this resident of Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac.
In France, twelve million households are affected by this energy poverty.
