On July 1, the next gas bill could indeed do damage in the homes of many French people. Following a revaluation of the distribution network prices, the average level of the reference price should soon be at 129.2 euros including tax per megawatt hour (MWh) against 115.7 euros/MWh in June, according to the monthly reference index published this Monday by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). Here is all the information you need to know.
This Monday, June 10, the energy regulator announced an increase in the price of gas, in particular because of the increase in distribution costs. A new blow for the French, already heavily impacted by inflation and the decline in their purchasing power. In total, this is an increase of 11.7% in July, which is looming compared to June. As our colleagues from BFMTV point out, this is a real paradox since “gas prices oscillate at levels ten times lower than the peak of the energy crisis in summer 2022”.
The energy regulator, however, wishes to put this increase into perspective since, despite this increase in June, it remains lower “by 3.5% than the average price of January 1, 2024”. According to the energy police, the annual invoice including tax of a residential customer is indexed to this “benchmark price”, “would stand at 1,184 euros at July prices”, compared to 1,060 euros per year in June, and 1,227 euros in January. A change that will remain difficult to undergo for thousands of householdsimpacted by the current crisis.
Gas: why such an increase?
To understand this increase, we have to go back to last February when the decision taken by the CREaimed at revaluing for four years the price of transporting gas to homes and businesses. A passage also called “the toll”which remains invoiced by the network manager GRDF to suppliers.
If, for the period 2021-2023, the country’s gas consumption has “fallen by 20%”networks still bear increasing maintenance costs, “while allowing the progressive integration of biogas”. Some suppliers such as EDF and Engie have already chosen to inform their customers while TotalEnergies has “indicated that it will be passed on to indexed offers, but not to those with a fixed price”.
Gas: figures that make you dizzy
Nevertheless the increase implemented is much more significant than what was initially planned. The CRE thus planned “an increase on the July bill of 5.5%”, for households heated with gas, and 10.4%, for cooking/hot water consumers. The figure of 11.7% is therefore more substantial than expected.
As a reminder, the drop in prices helped to attenuate the increase that occurred on January 1st while the government wanted to exit the costly gas and electricity price shield introduced in 2021, before the major surge in energy prices initiated by the war in Ukraine.
