The French have to abandon their consumption habits. In France, 15 million houses are subject to off-peak electricity contracts. Specifically, this has historically allowed you to lower your electricity bill by favoring the use of certain appliances at night, such as the washing machine or the dishwasher for example. Rather than running household appliances at full speed during the day, off-peak hours not only allowed us to avoid them. congestion of the electrical networkbut also to make significant savings, up to 15% on traditional prices.
Rush hour, a vestige of the past?
This differentiation between off-peak and off-peak hours could end soon. The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) had convened Enedis to review its entire tariff system, in order to better adapt to the current market, report our colleagues from Echoes. At that time, the system relied largely on nuclear electricity. The latter being produced mainly at night, the off-peak hours allowed to take advantage of the less intense electrical flow, at much more affordable prices. For the majority of customers (around 60%), Enedis states on its website that: “peak hours are concentrated only during the night hours, between 8 am and 8 am.“.
The problem is that today this off-peak system is no longer adapted to French consumption, nor to national electricity production, which relies more on solar energy. Thus, the CRE now asks the suppliers concentrate their off-peak hours in the middle of the day spring and summer, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. It is in fact at this time of the year that the photovoltaic panels are able to produce the most.
Consuming more during this period will also to avoid energy intensive storageassures Jérémie Haddad, energy expert at EY Consulting, in a report broadcast by TF1 during the news of May 16, 2024: “You have two solutions to take into account solar production. Or it is stored in batteries, but it is expensive and not necessarily profitable. Or, ask customers to consume at another time of the day, and that, in some ways, is free, but it is so effective.“.
What changes for consumers?
This change in the price list will not happen immediately. Such an upheaval in the daily life of the French can take time, and the CRE recommends a application from 2025. The opportunity for Enedis to clarify its offer, reduce the pressure on its electricity network, and avoid consumption peaks that lead to an increase in prices.
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