A figure that continues to rise, year after year. The energy mediator is publishing this Friday the number Of interventions for unpaid electricity and gas bills in 2023. For the first time in several years, the million mark has been crossed, including 178,000 for power cuts. effective electricity. In electricity, 913,611 interventions for unpaid bills were carried out, ten times more than in gas (87,297 cuts). “If more and more, suppliers resort to electricity power limitations rather than firm cuts”the national energy mediator Olivier Challan Belval renews his request “minimum access to electricity for all, all year round”.
The number of interventions was 970,000 last year, even if the questionable practices of certain suppliers who had withdrawn from the French market may push the total upwards, and 785,000 in 2021. “ The increase in the number of interventions requested by suppliers following unpaid invoices is 3% compared to 2022 and even 49% compared to 2019.specifies the mediator’s press release. In 2022, 27% of consumers said they had encountered difficulties paying their bills despite the price shield and the various energy checks.
Increases in February and August 2023 then in February 2024
Since February 2023, even outside the winter break and in the event of unpaid bills, suppliers have the obligation to request, for beneficiaries of the energy check or assistance from the housing solidarity fund, a limitation of the electricity supply prior to cutoff or termination.
The French’s electricity bill increased by around 10% in February 2024. Of the 30 million contracts on the French market, 20 million are affected by this jump in the regulated sales tariff (TRV). According to UFC Que Choisir, with the increases in February and August 2023, the hit to the bills of households who heat with electricity could reach €600 in total.
In electricity, changing supplier is free and immediate, even in a blocked offer where the duration only binds the professional. In addition, in the event of a drop in the TRV compared to your contract, you can always return to it quickly and easily. This has not been the case for gas since July 2023.
