The French will not escape the increase in electricity prices. The minister of Ecology, François de Rugy, has confirmed this morning on CNEWS. The increase of 5.9%, as advocated by the Commission of energy regulation (CRE), would have had to occur at the beginning of February but it had been frozen for the winter by the government at the beginning of the crisis of the “yellow vests”. But the winter is now finished, pointed out the minister announced that the government will apply a tariff increase “without doubt the half of the year.” The increase will affect all residential consumer subscribers to the blue tariff from EDF, representing 25.6 million households, as well as the small professionals (3.2 million). It is estimated to be 85 euros per year for a household that heats with electricity.
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The increase in regulated tariffs of the electricity comes each year. In fact, the law requires them to pass fully on to consumers, the supply costs of EDF, which account for 36% in the composition of price. However, the market prices soar. The objective of the freeze decided in December last was to limit the impact of this inevitable increase in the purchasing power of the French. But the government no longer has the choice. It should implement the recommendation of the CRE, because if you ignore it, it is subject to appeal before the Council of State which has been input by the electricity supplier competitors. Like every time they put in before a distortion of competition induced by the artificially maintained low prices for EDF. In recent years, the State Council is systematically went in their direction, forcing the government to announce a catch-up sometimes painful on the invoices.
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Still an option to soften the note: lower electricity taxes (VAT and contribution to public service electricity). The government would then have the choice, also controversial, to reduce the tax revenues dedicated to, among other things, the funding of renewable energies. This morning, the minister of Ecology has not taken a decision on this point. It was, however, recalled that the price of the French electricity “remains one of the lowest of Europe”.
