There is urgency, and the alerts are getting closer.
In the Journal du Dimanche, the leaders of the three French energy companies TotalEnergies, EDF and Engie together called on the French on Sunday to "immediately" reduce their consumption of fuel, oil, electricity and gas in the face of the risk of shortages and soaring prices which threaten " social cohesion" next winter.
“The effort must be immediate, collective and massive.
Every gesture counts", indicate in a rare joint forum published by the JDD, Patrick Pouyanné (TotalEnergies), Jean-Bernard Levy (EDF) and Catherine MacGregor (Engie), while France, like the rest of Europe, is trying to fill its gas reserves for next winter, with a French objective of 100% storage filled by the beginning of autumn, despite the fall in deliveries of Russian gas.
Read alsoElectricity prices: there will indeed be a catch-up, despite the price shield
In addition to the gas supply difficulties linked to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, there are “tensions” on controllable electricity production capacities in Europe, and “cut” hydraulic production due to the drought, they explain.
“The soaring energy prices resulting from these difficulties threaten our social and political cohesion and have a too heavy impact on the purchasing power of families” note the authors of the text.
“Collective and individual awareness”
"The best energy remains that which we do not consume" underline the three leaders who call for "awareness and collective and individual action so that each of us - each consumer, each company - changes our behavior and limits immediately its consumption of energy, electricity, gas and petroleum products.
They want the launch of a “major energy efficiency program” and a “national waste hunt”.
“Acting this summer will allow us to be better prepared to tackle next winter and in particular to preserve our gas reserves”, estimate the three leaders, while one in five French people say they have suffered from the cold in 2021.
"Responsible industrial players, our three groups are committed to actively collaborating" indicate the bosses, usually rather in competition on the subjects of energy transition, in particular which see massive but not always coordinated investments flourish in renewable energies, nuclear and hydrogen in particular.
Alerts are on the rise.
On March 28, the chairman of the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE), Jean-François Carenco, called on all French people to start saving energy, considering that "if nothing is fact” the country is going to face a problem next winter.
Now, suppliers are getting into it.
