The government will “gradually” end the tariff shield on electricity prices by the end of 2024. The announcement was made by the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, during an interview on RTL, raising doubts about its possible extension in 2025. The price shield had been introduced to fight against inflation.
“As soon as we have to save money, we must in particular get out of the specific mechanisms that we put in place during the inflation crisis”, “that means that we will have to gradually get out of the tariff shield on energy prices,” the minister said.
“It’s not going to happen all at once, all at once,” he said, but it means “that by the end of 2024, especially on the tariff shield on the electricity, we will gradually get out of it”.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced in April that the tariff shield limiting the price of electricity for individuals would be maintained until the beginning of 2025. On the other hand, he had on this occasion announced the end of that on gas, effective since the beginning of July.
On Tuesday, three economists from the Economic Analysis Council (CAE) had recommended in a note to quickly end the tariff shield on electricity prices for the wealthiest households in order to reduce its cost while encouraging energy sobriety, “given its weight for public finances”.
Excluding the 20% of the wealthiest households from the shield could thus make it possible “to make budgetary savings of 5 to 6 billion euros”, estimated Xavier Ragot, one of the authors of the report.
On the other hand, “the most modest would continue to benefit from support”, had recommended the CAE, referring to the distribution of an energy check to the most modest households.
During his interview on RTL, Attal said his desire to “put an end to this policy of exceptional checks that we have been able to put in place on such a subject for such a category of French people”.
According to estimates by the Energy Regulatory Commission, electricity prices would have jumped 35% in 2022 and 100% in 2023 had it not been for the price shield protective device.
The government estimated at the end of 2022 at 110 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 the cost of the energy shield for households, communities and businesses.