This was announced at the end of the week: the French gas bill will see a further increase in July.
Emmanuelle Wargon, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (Cre), specified on franceinfo this Sunday that prices should increase by 5.5% to 10.4%.
These figures had already been put forward on Friday by the Cre, as we reported.
The Commission explained that the 5.5% increase would represent an increase of 7.30 euros including tax per month on the total bill of a customer who uses gas for heating.
If he only uses gas for hot water and/or cooking, this increase would be 10.4%, or +2.20 euros per month.
An increase linked to the drop in consumption
This increase is due “to the fact that (gas) consumption is falling,” explained Emmanuelle Wargon.
Because in the price paid in a gas bill, there is “the gas molecule itself, and then the fact that this gas passes through pipes.
These pipes must be maintained, they must be replaced when they fail.”
However, as gas consumption falls, the price of this maintenance is spread over fewer people, “obviously consumer by consumer, that’s a little bit more”.
Also read: Gas tax: these households who will see their bill increase in 2024
According to the network manager GRDF, three quarters of the announced increase is a carry-over effect due to the vagaries of the previous period, during which costs increased.
Over the past four years, “the price has remained stable and has therefore not been able to cover all of the company's costs,” the group explained.
According to Cre, “this tariff makes it possible to maintain a high level of security for the networks”, but also “to actively contribute to the energy transition, in particular by allowing the integration of biogas into the networks”.
“In the price which arrives for the next four years, we have planned all the necessary investments for biomethane (…) That is part of the price”, explained this Sunday Emmanuelle Wargon, “the investments will be there to accommodate more biomethane and therefore gradually reduce the share of fossil gas in the gas we use.
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