Sobriety plan, act 2. After laying the first brick this winter, with the effect of a significant drop in energy consumption, the government wants to continue its momentum.
The executive is launching the second stage of the sobriety plan announced last October on Tuesday.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher "
will meet again, with each minister concerned, all the working groups in the coming weeks to review progress, display the monitoring indicators, remove any obstacles and see how to go even further
“, specifies the executive in a press release.
First working group to come together, the one around sport.
Meeting in which the Minister of Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, will logically participate.
Read also2022, the year when the French were asked to convert to “energy sobriety”
Then, in the coming weeks, the eight other working groups will also be convened again: State, companies and organization of work, establishments open to the public and large commercial areas, industry, housing, transport, digital and telecoms, then local authorities.
The exact dates of the meetings have not yet been communicated.
Objective -40% by 2050
The stated objective for the executive is to “
register (the) drop in consumption over time
”.
“
Our gas and electricity consumption fell by 12% between October and December 2022
,” he said in a press release, thanks to the “
call for general mobilization
” launched at the end of last year, "
heard by the big players (...) and by the French
".
According to the latest figures from RTE, the drop in electricity consumption amounted to 8.3% over the last four weeks, compared to the average for previous years (2014-2019, excluding the health crisis).
On the gas side, France is at -12.8% over the period from August 1, 2022 to February 12, 2023, compared to the same period 2018-2019, according to GRTgaz.
Read also“There was a form of denial”: 2022, the year when France came close to a catastrophic lack of electricity
This "
act 2
" of the energy sobriety plan was expected.
When presenting this plan and its arsenal of measures on October 6, Elisabeth Borne insisted on their sustainable aspect: “
The reduction in energy consumption must be part of the long term.
It's not a fad, the time of a winter.
It's a new way of thinking and acting
,” said the Prime Minister.
"
The fight will not stop in the winter of 2022-2023
," said Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
We have to continue it, we have to improve the measurements, we have to measure them, (...) and it's a job for the next 30 years.
»
The short-term objective of this sobriety plan - a 10% drop in consumption by 2024 - is indeed included in a longer-term objective, a 40% drop in consumption by 2050. A figure which appears in the report on the 2050 energy futures of RTE.
Such a reduction is necessary, according to the manager, to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century.
