On paper, the new tariff shield presented with great fanfare on Wednesday by Élisabeth Borne seems sufficiently broad.
No less than 16 billion euros are released for 2023 to ensure the French that their gas and electricity bills do not increase by more than 15% next year.
This is certainly less generous than what its big brother, still in progress for 2022, proposed, which capped the increase at 4% for electricity and 12.6% for gas.
But much more compatible with the state of public finances, especially as the number of beneficiaries of the energy check is multiplied by two.
However, many questions remain.
Who will receive the energy voucher?
The 12 million poorest households, six million more than last year.
This will represent 40% of the French population.
Half should receive 200 euros and the other half 100 euros.
The check will be sent automatically to the recipients' homes, without taking any steps.
To find out if you are concerned, you have to wait for the government to define very precisely the income ceiling retained.
Regarding deadlines, the government is committed to disbursing the aid by the end of the year.
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What about condominiums with collective electric heating?
At the end of August, our article on a condominium of 135 apartments located in Coubron, in Seine-Saint-Denis, excluded from the price shield because it was collectively heated by electricity, had aroused many reactions.
Since then, we have been contacted by other condominiums in the same situation, with bills about to explode.
Thus the 200 families of the Sisley residence, a 1970s 17-storey tower located avenue de Verdun in Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine), fear an electricity bill from their supplier Engie multiplied by six between the end of 2021 and early 2023. Dozens of other condominiums in France would find themselves in the same situation.
“We have clearly identified the problem and we are looking at how to correct it”, we are assured at the Ministry of Energy Transition.
Is business support sufficient?
SMEs that employ less than ten employees and whose turnover is less than 2 million euros will still benefit from the tariff shield in 2023. But as for households, the mechanism will be less generous since their gas and electricity bills electricity will increase by 15%.
For larger companies, the government set up this summer an aid fund of 3 billion euros which is accessible to them according to several criteria.
These will be relaxed to facilitate access to this fund.
For the other companies, the government considers that they are able to cut back on their margins or pass on the increases to their prices.
An analysis rejected this Thursday by the president of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux who urges the state to cap electricity prices.
Impossible, replies Matignon:
“It would explode the cost of the shield by tens of billions of euros.
For the government, the solution is to be found on the side of Europe, which is currently working on mechanisms intended to calm the surge in energy prices and finance aid.
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What help for households that heat with oil?
An envelope of 230 million euros was voted this summer by Parliament.
Who will benefit from it among the 3 million households that heat with fuel oil and for what amount per household?
The arbitrations are still in progress at Matignon.
But according to a government source, "the idea is to reach the middle and modest classes and not the oil-heated second homes".
The method of payment – either paper such as the energy check, or by bank transfer – has not yet been decided.
Are wood-burning fireplaces affected?
If the tariff shield does not protect wood consumers, the Ministry of Energy Transition points out that the energy check covers all energies.
Nevertheless, the most modest households that heat with wood should receive additional help.
“We will not leave anyone by the side of the road, assures us in the entourage of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister of Energy Transition.
When we realize that there is a hole in the racquet, we plug it”.
