what if we removed the base option in favor of off-peak hours?

By offering a fixed electricity price regardless of the time of day, the base option does not encourage subscribers to shift their consumption to times when the network is least used. The peak/off-peak option, which is supposed to reward users who make this effort, is no longer as advantageous as before. What if we simply removed the base option to create a real incentive for all electricity consumers, without penalizing them?

Have you already observed the national electricity consumption curve? It fluctuates suddenly, collapsing at night then peaking in the middle and end of the day. Power plants therefore play a balancing act, so that the quantity of electricity produced is always equal to that consumed. This mode of operation does not make it possible to best exploit the potential of those which generate the least carbon-intensive electricity, such as nuclear and solar power plants.

At night, nuclear reactors reduce their power when they could operate at full capacity 24 hours a day without major impact on their fuel consumption. During the day, from spring to autumn, solar power plants sometimes see their production restricted due to lack of outlets. Finally, it is hydroelectric power stations, but also those using fossil gas, fuel oil and coal, which are called upon to react quickly to fluctuations in national consumption. If the first are low-carbon, a large part use a stock of water which benefits from being saved.

Store electricity, exchange it with neighboring countries and shift consumption

A waste that can nevertheless be remedied. Although large-scale energy storage such as pumped storage stations (STEP) and batteries represents an effective means, it requires colossal investments and a lot of political will. Electricity exchanges with neighboring countries also make it possible to efficiently export surpluses and import in the event of a deficit, but question our energy sovereignty, in addition to also requiring large investments in cross-border lines. There remains flexibility: encouraging consumers to “smooth” the national consumption curve, by postponing the switching on of energy-intensive devices to the most suitable times. Ideally non-punitive flexibility.

In France, individuals are timidly encouraged to do so through the peak/off-peak hours option offered on each electricity supply contract. It is opposed to the basic option, which offers a fixed electricity price, whatever the time of day. However, the peak hours/off-peak hours option currently suffers from a lack of attractiveness, because it imposes a higher subscription price and a more expensive peak-hour kilowatt-hour rate than the base option. Two disadvantages to access a meager advantage: a price per kilowatt hour during the eight daily off-peak hours 17.8% cheaper than base.

Current off-peak hours, only advantageous if you have a classic hot water tank

To save significantly with the peak/off-peak hours option, it is therefore essential to postpone at least 60% of your total consumption during off-peak hours. These relatively low-cost eight daily hours are usually placed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., but they can vary from subscriber to subscriber. It is therefore not always possible to know in advance the off-peak hours that will be allocated to us when subscribing to an HP/HC contract.

This option is especially advantageous for users of classic “storage” electric hot water tanks. This extremely power-hungry device can easily be configured to turn on automatically during off-peak hours. As it represents a significant part of a household’s total consumption, planning its start in this price range sometimes makes it possible to make it profitable without constraints. The interest in the HP/HC option disappears as soon as you heat your water by another means (thermodynamic hot water tank, boiler, central network, etc.), or if you consume little energy. domestic hot water.

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Why the base option is not relevant

Thus, the basic option is often favored by households, especially if they heat themselves with electricity (radiators or heat pump, with the exception of the rare and expensive storage radiators capable of storing heat for off-peak hours). With the basic option, these households find themselves without any incentive to smooth their consumption. The price of electricity is the same, even if they start the pyrolysis of their electric oven at the same time as recharging their electric car, a washing machine and dishwasher cycle on a freezing winter evening at 7:30 p.m. . Right at the moment when the national electricity network is sweating profusely to maintain balance, by activating costly and polluting thermal power plants and importing potentially very carbon-intensive electricity from neighboring countries.

From spring to autumn, the base option also does not encourage consumers to exploit the peak production of solar power plants. However, the electricity there is low-carbon in addition to being terribly cheap, even free. Simply removing the base option could therefore be a solution to create a “tradition”, a reflex anchored in all electricity consumers. Today, only very large consumers who have subscribed to a power greater than 15 kVA are banned from the basic option. But this represents a small share of households.

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Thinking about a new formula for off-peak hours?

Concretely, the base option would be replaced by a new formula of the peak hours / off-peak hours option, where the price of the subscription would be identical to the base option, as would the price of the kilowatt hour in peak hours. The off-peak kilowatt-hour rate could be maintained at the current level. Six months a year, from April to September, a midday off-peak range would be added, in addition to the usual nighttime range.

This is a form of effective incentive to shift its uses, without risks or constraints, which can be found elsewhere in the world, such as in Quebec. Each consumer would benefit from scheduling the start-up of their devices during off-peak hours, without being penalized if they do not do so. Particularly in the current context of loss of purchasing power, it is likely that a large proportion of households would adopt the reflex. Public authorities would no longer have to ask households to make an effort in winter without any compensation.