The Prime Minister intends to renationalise EDF 100%. The operation, explains La Dépêche, aims to allow the State better control of its energy policy. As the economist Philippe Crevel pointed out in our columns, it is also a question of preserving the company, which has been quite largely undermined by the tariff shield, which Jean Castex has decided to brandish from the fall of 2021. the company’s accounts have been considerably degraded by Jean Castex’s tariff shield and anti-inflation measures in general”, he assures Planet, evoking otherwise a potential risk of bankruptcy.
However, it is not because the State recovers all of the capital of the company that the French and the French will not have to pay. On the contrary, indicates BFMTV on its information site. According to the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE), it will be necessary to deal with particularly high “term prices for electricity” for deliveries in France, during the winter of 2022-2023. The situation is special. So much so that the organization decided to interview some of the most important players in the French market, with the idea of shedding light on this state of affairs.
Winter promises to be particularly difficult, according to the latest report from the Energy Regulatory Commission. The problem stems from cyclical factors, on the one hand, but also from structural concerns. However, it is clear that France is one of the nations most affected by the rise in prices.
The German situation, which benefits from a better gas supply, illustrates this well. The latter should pay less for its electricity than France. Rising gas prices are also indirectly affecting electricity prices.
In the space of a few weeks, explains BFMTV, prices have practically doubled. In the fourth quarter of 2022, electricity for delivery was sold for more than 800 euros per MegaWatt/Hour. During the first half of June, prices were considerably lower (and yet already above the usual averages): they amounted to “only” 500 euros per MegaWatt/Hour for delivery.
Such a surge in prices can be explained in several ways, but it must first be specified that in the eyes of CRE, the increases no longer follow any traditional logic. They “reflect either expectations of a severe shortage, or a high risk premium on the French electricity market, and probably the combination of the two”.
We must also remember the fear of a stoppage of Russian gas deliveries as well as the shutdown of certain nuclear reactors in France.
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As things stand, French people are protected against such price increases. This is the whole purpose of Jean Castex’s tariff shield. However, recalls Philippe Crevel in our columns, there will come a time when it will be necessary to pay again.
“For the time being, it is the State which supports the price increase for French women and men. One day or another, it will no longer be possible to subsidize such a service”, estimates the specialist, not without recalling that such a device postpones expenses more than it erases them. “In the long term, it will inevitably be necessary to think about EDF’s financial equilibrium. This mechanically requires returning to prices in line with the economic and financial reality of the company and the market”, he asserts. Again.
