When Emmanuel Macron proclaimed the end of abundance, he was above all referring to the energy crisis. It is clear, in fact, that France could have the greatest difficulty in the world to last all winter without the slightest power cut. The risk is real, so much so that Bruno Le Maire no longer hesitates to compare the situation to the oil crisis of 1973, during which Georges Pompidou had to put in place a certain number of measures to restrict consumption to limit damage. . From now on, no one in the government is ruling out the possibility of rotating power cuts, recalls Liberation in its fact-checking section, Checknews.

“There may be times when if it is very cold there may be a problem with the electricity supply. Each year, we prepare to deal with consumption peaks which can lead to what is called rotating load shedding, that is to say that we cut over a short period, less than two hours, for district”, declared Elisabeth Borne, on the set of the Quotidien program, on August 30, 2022. It was enough to worry Internet users, a certain number of whom fear the use of the Linky counter for the sole purpose to harm them. Is it even possible?

“At the moment, both politically and legally, there is no program for the use of the Linky meter to cut off electricity to people due, for example, to the looming energy crisis. As Enedis explained, it is a question of rotating load shedding, which will not take into account the type of meter installed since they will be located at the scale of a district”, recognizes from the outset Stéphane Lhomme, founder of the Nuclear Observatory and environmental activist known for his anti-Linky positions.

“That being said, the basic problem comes from the fact that the Linky meter inherently allows targeted power cuts. For the time being, the government is appealing to the goodwill of French people, but that will not necessarily always be the case and that de facto opens the door to major abuses – to social issues. We can quite imagine cuts in working-class neighborhoods while wealthier households are spared. It’s a problem”, observes the activist, who also recalls that the few who have kept their needle counter will not be spared this year… but could be if the last scenario is applied.

However, underlines Enedis in the columns of our colleagues, the power of the meter is theoretically modified only in certain cases… and never by decision of the network manager himself. “Only at the request of the electricity supplier, in particular in the event of unpaid bills”, argues the company. Especially since targeted restraints, remotely or face-to-face are not currently “not planned”, assures the EDF subsidiary to our colleagues. and this, “whatever the nature of the meter”.