In recent years, energy prices have increased significantly in France, which obviously impacts the finances of millions of households. As July begins this Monday, a new increase in gas prices is being applied.
Despite the drop in gas prices that suppliers have seen between January and June, the increase in July has been maintained. Thus, from this Monday, the gas bill should increase by 11.7% for the millions of households concerned, which represents an average benchmark price of 13 euro cents per kWh. According to the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), the theoretical annual gas bill will therefore increase from 1,060 euros in July to 1,184 euros from this month.
This new increase is notably due to the contribution of third-party access to distribution networks (ATRD), a tax which represents 25 to 30% of individuals’ gas bills. Said contribution is put in place to cover the costs of maintaining the gas network. Moreover, it should be noted that only individuals and businesses are subject to it.
Another factor in the gas price increase is the replacement of Russian with American, according to the founder of the consultancy firm Omnegy, Nicolas Leclerc, to Capital. On average, households heated by gas will see their bill increase by 5.5%, while that of homes that use it for cooking and water will increase by 10.4%. However, the CRE indicates that energy suppliers remain free to decide whether to pass on this increase in the benchmark price of gas to consumers’ bills.
CRE advice to limit the increase in gas bills
Moreover, “the CRE considered it preferable, in order to reward consumers’ efforts at moderation while covering the costs borne by suppliers, to limit the increase in the subscription in its reference price. Some suppliers have applied this logic and the CRE welcomes it”, we can read in the CRE press release.
But although suppliers have this freedom, “the vast majority of consumers will see this increase reflected in their bills,” estimates the Energy Mediator. “The CRE invites consumers, according to their needs, to compare the different offers available using the public comparator energie-info.fr,” we can read on the website of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
