Electricity prices will increase from 8.6% to 9.8% on February 1, announced the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, guest on the 8 p.m. news on TF1, Sunday January 21. “The electricity bill on peak/off-peak rates will increase by 9.8% on 1uh and in February the base rates of 8.6%. That is to say that for 97% of French households the increase will be below 10%”he declared on the set of “8 p.m.” on TF1.
This increase is the consequence of the gradual end of the energy shield, launched in the fall of 2021 by the government to limit increases in electricity and gas prices. The minister spoke of a decision on Sunday evening ” difficult “ justified by the desire to “get out of whatever it takes” and preserve the balance of public finances. “We are getting back to normal”he assured.
This concerns nearly 20 million households subscribing to electricity, including 10.6 million at the base rate, i.e. the rate ” blue “ from EDF, fixed without off-peak hours. For approximately 400,000 individual subscribers who have subscribed to a so-called option “peak day cancellation”, the price will increase by 10.1%. These subscribers pay a more advantageous rate but in exchange undertake to reduce their consumption on days when national consumption is very high, on very cold days for example. For small businesses and non-residential subscribers, the increase will be 5.2 to 8% depending on the contracts.
An increase of more than 40% in two years
The Ministry of the Economy has given some simulations of bill increases. For a 4-room house heated with electricity (9 MWh/year), it would increase by 17.80 euros per month. A bakery benefits from the regulated rate in peak/off-peak hours, with 90 MWh of annual consumption, will pay 116 euros more per month. A one-room apartment not heated by electricity would see its average electricity bill increase by 4.50 euros per month.
The government was committed to ensuring that the review of the regulated electricity tariff, which occurs each year on 1uh and February 1uh August, this time limited to an increase of 10% maximum. Previously, this rate had been increased by 4% in February 2022, 15% in February 2023 and 10% in August 2023. The total increase over two years is therefore of the order of 43% to 44%.
“We are two-thirds of the way but not all of the way in restoring this tax in full. We will return to normal on February 1, 2025”, he then detailed during a call with journalists. According to Mr. Le Maire, the tax increase will bring in 6 billion euros to the State this year, but a complete return to normal could have brought in 9 billion.
“This is the last increase in this tax for the year 2024. The next one will be on 1uh February 2025, we will return to the situation which was that before the tariff shield, “ » added Bruno Le Maire.
