The sector watchdog, the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), indicated on Thursday September 14 through its president Emmanuelle Wargon that it was considering an increase of between 10% and 20% in regulated electricity tariffs (TRV). in February 2024. A possibility that Bruno Le Maire immediately rejected: “An increase in electricity prices from 10 to 20%, as indicated by the president of the CRE at the beginning of 2024, is excluded,” assured the Minister of ‘Economy and Finance to journalists.
The regulated rate, from which the majority of households benefit, changes twice a year, on February 1 and August 1, by decision of the government. “In this entire period of crisis, it is necessary to separate the calculation of theoretical TRV, which is the application of the calculation formula, from the decision which is the responsibility of the government, namely the part which is acceptable and the part which must be financed by the state budget,” Emmanuelle Wargon had also clarified.
Clearly, if the CRE calculated a tariff increase of between 10% and 20%, the final decision could result in a smaller increase, with the shortfall for suppliers being compensated by the State. This is what happened this year: on February 1, 2023, the CRE, based on the costs of supplying electricity on wholesale markets, had calculated an increase in the average level of regulated tariffs of electricity by 99.22%, but the government had decided to limit this increase to 15%.
“On TRV, it’s still a little early to do the equation, since we do the TRV calculations on the basis of prices over the previous two years, so we will have to wait to see the prices at the end of 2023,” warned Ms. Wargon. “Nevertheless, we will be in a theoretical TRV calculation which will be a much lower increase than what we were able to do last year,” she added. Compared to the 99.22% calculation, “we will not be in that zone at all, we will be in a zone of 10, 20% roughly,” declared Ms. Wargon.
A few hours after this press briefing, the CRE specified that “the theoretical calculation that the CRE would propose to the government could lead to an evolution whose order of magnitude would be 10% maximum at the beginning of 2024, in current market conditions, before possible application of a tariff shield”.
After the 15% increase in February, the government decided on August 1 to increase regulated electricity prices by 10%, thus marking the gradual exit from the tariff shield, with the government wishing to reduce the burden on finances. public.
