The Energy Regulatory Commission has proposed that the electricity bill of most French households, more than 24 million households, should fall by 15% on February 1, a first since 2015.
The exact figure is finally out. As of February 1, regulated sales tariffs (TRVE) should fall by 15% as proposed Thursday morning by the president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) Emmanuelle Wargon. But the repercussions will not be the same for consumers depending on the offer to which they have subscribed.
This reduction will affect the approximately 20.4 million households subscribed to EDF's “blue tariff” (60% of the 34 million residential subscribers) to which are added the four million subscribers to offers indexed to this tariff, and this despite the increase in a government tax and the increase in the costs of transporting and distributing electricity (Turpe).
For the 10 million individuals who do not depend on regulated prices (TRVE) but subscribe to market offers, the variation will however depend on their suppliers, who are free to pass on these increases or not, by playing on their margins.
• You are at the regulated rate…
According to the energy regulation commission, the 15% drop results in a reduction in the price of MWh of around 42 euros including tax, which goes from 281 to 239 euros. But this figure hides disparities depending on the type of residential blue tariff chosen from EDF. Customers who opted for the basic TRVE option will see the price of their MWh drop from 313 to less than 269 euros while those who preferred the peak/off-peak option will see a reduction in the price of their MWh from 275 to 230 euros. Finally, the price per MWh for customers who have chosen the Tempo option decreases by only four euros, going from 196 to 192 euros.
In its press release, CRE recalls that the average consumption of the portfolio of customers at the regulated electricity sales rate amounts to 4.4 MWh per year for residential customers. Their average annual bill will therefore drop from 1,240 euros to 1,050 euros, which corresponds to a drop of 190 euros over the year.
But in addition to the type of subscription mentioned above, other parameters influence the amount of the bill such as the composition of the household or the equipment using electricity. The CRE gives three different scenarios.
The first corresponds to an apartment where three people live whose annual consumption amounts to 8.5 MWh and the electricity is used for heating, hot water and cooking. With a subscribed power of 9 kVa as part of the peak-off-peak option, the annual bill for this household will drop from 2,252 euros in 2024 to 1,863 euros in 2025, a drop of 389 euros over the year.
The reduction is just as significant for a house where four people live whose annual consumption reaches 14 MWh. In this case, the bill drops by 650 euros between 2024 and 2025, going from 3,600 euros to less than 2,950 euros.
-On the other hand, for a household heating mainly with gas, the reduction in the bill is more moderate. In its example of a couple living in an apartment for an annual consumption of only 2.4 MWh via the base option, the CRE estimates that the reduction barely exceeds 100 euros over the year, with the household bill increasing by 756 to 649 euros.
• You have chosen an offer indexed to the regulated rate…
As indicated above, the approximately 4 million customers who have subscribed to a contract indexed to TRVE will also see the 15% reduction applied in February. According to the energy offer comparator Hello Watt, market offers whose price is indexed to the regulated tariff will prove particularly attractive at the moment by allowing almost “double the planned savings”.
According to Hello Watt, they will in fact accumulate the 15% reduction to which can be added a 15% reduction on the price excluding taxes (i.e. -13% including tax), electricity suppliers wishing to remain competitive, this which could result in annual savings of more than 300 euros according to the co-founder of the site Sylvain Le Falher.
“Households can therefore benefit from an overall reduction of more than a quarter in their electricity bill compared to the current regulated rate,” summarizes Hello Watt.
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• You have opted for a fixed price market offer…
Between 20 and 30% of households subscribing to electricity are in this situation. As the energy regulatory commission explains in its press release, these customers “have generally already benefited from the drop in market prices for several months, which allows them to now have a contract well below the TRVE”. According to Sylvain Le Falher, the gap between fixed price market offers and the regulated rate should return to its pre-crisis level, that is to say around 10-15%.
“Most of them could therefore see their bill increase with increases in TURPE (network tariff) and taxes, depending on their contract and the commercial policy of their supplier, effectively reducing the gap with the TRVE,” adds the CRE.
According to the co-founder of Hello Watt, customers' bills for a fixed price market offer should increase by around 8% on February 1, an annual increase of around 100 euros. “These offers remain lower than the TRV even after the 15% reduction,” he underlines. “Overall, it is a good time to check that the price of your electricity is competitive.”
