Wind turbines and electricity pylons near Allonnes, in central France, January 31, 2022 (AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT)
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) recommended on Tuesday to the government the maintenance for five years of the system of regulated electricity sales tariffs (TRVE), subscribed to by a majority of households.
If alternative suppliers to EDF “believe that this situation favors a form of immobility among customers, consumer associations consider that TRVEs constitute a form of protection against the volatility” of electricity markets “and serve as a standards in a complex market”, underlines the CRE.
The “smoothing” of prices “over a long period helps to mitigate the impacts of market variations”, estimates the CRE, for which today, “only the TRVEs offer this smoothing” allowed to the 59% of residential consumers who fall under the these prices and the 16% having subscribed to an offer indexed to these regulated prices.
She underlines that despite market offers “much cheaper (up to 15 or 20%)” for several months, there is “low mobility of TRVE customers towards market offers”, which demonstrates that price is not the only criterion.
The CRE therefore underlines the “major role” that these tariffs play “for the benefit of the consumer” and considers at the same time that these tariffs, the price of which is set by the public authorities, on a proposal from the CRE, “are compatible with the proper functioning of the market and the development of competition.
However, it made recommendations to strengthen competition.
It recommends in particular prohibiting the return to regulated tariffs of customers at a certain power level who have subscribed to a market offer for less than a year, “to limit short-term back and forth between TRVEs and market offers , which would be detrimental to the proper functioning of the market in the absence of early termination compensation.
Periodic analysis of the TRVE system is provided for by French and European legislation.
Due to the post-Covid recovery and the war in Ukraine, electricity prices have jumped by more than 43% over two years, despite the price shield established by the State.
For the first time since the start of the energy crisis, consumers with regulated or indexed tariffs should experience a significant drop, of around 9%, due to a drop in electricity prices and despite the increase in a tax and the exit from the tariff shield.
