If you are one of the 2.8 million households still subscribed to regulated gas sales tariffs (TRV), you have received or will receive a letter from your supplier by June 15.
Don't immediately throw it in the trash.
It contains an important reminder: the imminent end of regulated natural gas prices.
A news that may cause concern among consumers, in the midst of soaring gas prices on the markets, caused in particular by the war in Ukraine.
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What schedule?
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Le Figaro
takes stock.
When will the regulated tariffs end?
The end of regulated gas tariffs, offered by incumbent suppliers (Engie and local distributors, such as ES Énergies or Gaz de Bordeaux, on 5% of the territory), is scheduled for July 1, 2023. That is in just over a year.
Who is concerned ?
All private individuals subscribing to regulated gas tariffs are concerned by this measure, i.e. 2.8 million households according to the latest figures from the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE), dating from the end of 2021. As well as the small condominiums (consuming less than 150,000 kWh).
The gas TRVs have already been abolished for professionals - and for large condominiums - on December 1, 2020.
Why are they deleted?
The end of regulated gas tariffs originated in a decision of the Council of State in 2017. Seized by Anode, the association of alternative energy operators, the highest administrative court had considered that maintaining these tariffs was "contrary to European Union law".
“
The existence of regulated tariffs is accepted at European level only if they protect consumers from variations in market prices
,” explains Antoine Autier, head of the research department at UFC-Que Choisir.
However, the Council of State ruled in 2017 that the organization of the market in France did not allow regulated tariffs to be more protective than market offers, given that France does not produce gas, which exposed to market fluctuations.
»
Following this opinion, the abolition of gas TRVs was included in the Energy-Climate law of November 2019. It is therefore no longer possible to subscribe to a new contract at regulated tariffs since this date.
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What should consumers who are still subscribers do?
The 2.8 million households still subscribing to gas TRVs - i.e. a quarter of households subscribing to gas - must receive a letter between May 15 and June 15 informing them of their removal and inviting them to change their contract before due July 1, 2023. This is the third letter out of a total of five – two more letters are due in late 2022 and March 2023.
Consumer associations recommend not to take this letter into account and to wait before making the change.
Why ?
Due to the price shield put in place by the government in November, which froze regulated gas prices.
"
In the current energy chaos, this contract [at the regulated gas tariff, editor's note] is the only one that is certainly linked to the tariff shield and therefore offers unrivaled competitiveness and security for the months to come
", justifies the CLCV in a statement, the tariff shield to be extended until the end of the year by the government.
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On the side of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, we note that, "
given the circumstances
", the information mail sent to households is "
neutral
".
While emphasizing that "
there are currently around ten indexed offers at regulated tariffs at a lower or equal level, which fall within the scope of the tariff shield
", and to which TRV households can subscribe.
What about customers who do nothing by July 1, 2023?
Do not panic if you do not subscribe to a market offer by July 1, 2023. There is no risk of the gas supply being cut off.
These will switch directly to a market offer from the incumbent supplier (Engie or a local distribution company).
But this option is not recommended.
"
The mediator advises to anticipate and choose, before this date, the offer that suits me best
", indicates the National Energy Mediator on its site.
Otherwise, these households will pass on an offer that they did not choose.
Antoine Autier, of UFC-Que Choisir, agrees: "
Stay until the last moment at regulated prices, and compare market offers in June 2023.
" Because at that time, "
we will know in particular the offers offered by Engie
", adds the head of studies for the consumer association.
The Energy Mediator offers a comparator of offers on its website energie-info.fr, as does UFC-Que Choisir.
And for customers of offers indexed to regulated tariffs?
Among the market offers, there are offers indexed to regulated tariffs.
They therefore also benefit from the price freeze.
For subscriber households, it is therefore recommended to keep this type of contract.
The future of these offers, from July 1, 2023, is still unclear.
“
They will inevitably have to evolve
”, affirms Caroline Keller, head of the information and communication service of the Energy Ombudsman.
But how ?
Impossible to say at the moment.
“
At least one month before, the suppliers of these offers must communicate to their customers the new indexation of their contract
”, indicates Caroline Keller.
How to change contract?
The procedure for changing the gas contract is specified in the mail that the households concerned are currently receiving.
She is very simple.
“
All you have to do is take out a new contract with the supplier you have chosen, clearly specifying that it is a change of supplier.
This automatically terminates the old contract
, ”explains Caroline Keller.
No action is therefore necessary with the former supplier.
There is no charge or notice.
No need to change the meter, and "
there is no risk of cuts
", adds Antoine Autier.
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To avoid any unpleasant surprises, Caroline Keller also advises, when making the change, to "
check your gas meter identifier, the PCE, consisting of 14 digits, and to take a meter reading
".
And beware
of “false arguments
” that some alternative suppliers could use to attract consumers into their net, warns Antoine Autier, the end of regulated tariffs being for them “
the opportunity to win customers
”.
Finally, Caroline Keller recalls that, when you subscribe to an offer, “
you are never committed for the duration, even if it is, for example, an offer at a fixed price over two years
”.
What are the consequences for invoices?
On the side of consumer associations, there is concern about the potential impact of the end of gas TRVs on French bills.
“Today there are fewer and fewer offers more advantageous than the regulated tariffs”
Antoine Autier
Fixed-price market offerings, safer in the current uncertainty, are sorely lacking.
The CLCV fears that the government's tariff shield, if it is still in place in July 2023, "
is de facto eroding or collapsing
".
Because, according to the consumer association, “
a price shield is effective when there is a regulated price
”.
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At the Ministry of Ecological Transition, it is emphasized that, “
even in the absence of regulated tariffs, article L.410-2 of the Commercial Code allows the government to take “against excessive price increases or decreases, temporary measures motivated by a crisis situation, exceptional circumstances, a public calamity or a manifestly abnormal market situation in a given sector
”.
The crisis on the gas market linked in particular to the war in Ukraine could fall within these criteria.
According to Antoine Autier, of UFC-Que Choisir, the risk of the end of gas TRVs is above all that "
consumers can no longer compare offers with each other
", because "
there will no longer be a standard tariff
”.