( AFP / NICOLAS DUCAT )
The CGT of the gas distributor GRDF denounced Thursday the extension of the lifespan of gas pipes, a decision which poses a “danger” to customers of the Engie subsidiary, according to the union.
The GRDF board of directors decided last July to extend the lifespan of gas pipes installed in collective buildings from 45 to 100 years from 1979, the CGT said in a press release published Thursday.
The company’s first union organization, which refers to similar decisions already taken in the past, believes that these extensions “will inevitably undermine the security of gas distribution in France, but also and above all that of citizens and users” .
The CGT also denounces “an economic sleight of hand”, affirming that GRDF thus intends to “unblock the funds provided for the safety of the installations and transform them into dividends for the parent company” Engie.
The union refers to a tax, the network usage tariff (known as “ATRD”), which represents the gas transport costs borne by GRDF and invoiced by suppliers to consumers. It increased by an average of 27.5% on July 1, according to a decision by the Energy Regulatory Commission (Cre) taken for four years.
“The user paid for the renewal, except that today, the money for the renewal is used to do something else,” declared Sébastien Raya, central CGT union representative of GRDF.
Requested by AFP, GRDF management evokes a “decision of pure accounting and tax transparency”, without impact on its industrial policy, “which is decided in complete independence with regard to safety and regulations”.
This decision “has no impact on the financial capacity of the company to continue its industrial program of bringing non-compliant works up to standard nor its capacity to pursue its business project”, adds GRDF management.
The communities own the gas distribution networks, which they entrust to GRDF to manage via a concession contract.
“Through concession contracts, GRDF undertakes to provide services worthy of a major public service, but does everything differently,” concludes the CGT.
