The Nanterre court condemned the electricity supplier Enedis to modify the faulty installation of a customer. According to the judges, it would not have an adequate support, it would be placed on wood. Unfortunately, this client would not be the only one to notice this problem since thousands of homes would also be affected, as Ouest-France assures.
José Mercier had already noticed and drafted an order against Linky meters in 2019. The latter judged that the installation of these electricity meters would not meet the safety standards in force, when it was only the launch period of the device. For the mayor of Bovel, a town south of Rennes, it is in a way a victory by proxy in his showdown started five years ago against Enedis.
On March 24, 2023, the court this time decided to grant a plaintiff. The latter argued that the installation of its meter was not up to standard in accordance with the legislation. Like many individuals, the green box had been placed on an existing wooden support.
The judges agreed with the client, judging that “in this case, standard NF 14-100, relating to low-voltage connection installations, does not require the replacement of existing wooden panels, it nevertheless provides for the installation of an approved control panel. SA Enedis has thus engaged its quasi-criminal liability by not respecting it”. The electricity supplier was subsequently ordered to install a new control panel, under a penalty of 100 euros per day, within two months.
“This is exactly what I denounced in the municipal decree of January 21, 2019, which I had taken against Enedis to defend my constituents. There was a failure to respect the technical standard. “At the time, the case had been examined by the administrative jurisdiction. As mayors do not have jurisdiction to enforce departmental health regulations, I had been dismissed,” said José Mercier. In 2019, the mayor fought to defend his inhabitants by denouncing the risk of fires. Unfortunately, the court did not accept this complaint, not without proof.
Without wasting time, he appealed to the prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, not without reconsidering his disappointments in court. After having distributed his letter in the neighboring departments, the mayor wonders: “The analysis of the standard has not been contested on the merits. The magistrates have simply retained, in short, that I was exceeding my powers as mayor After years of lack, do you intend, Mr. Prefect, to approach the departmental energy union from now on so that the prefectural regulations do not remain a dead letter?
Contacted by Ouest-France, the company says “to have taken note of the judgment of the Nanterre court” but “however disputes its scope and will appeal to this end”. The supplier defends itself and against: “The metering panel is, in fact, built to last the entire life of the connection. This is not the case for the various equipment installed, which must be able to be replaced to keep up with technological developments. These changes to the components of the counting panel do not in any way alter the integrity of the connection”.
Despite the firm’s appeal, it cannot in any way suspend the court’s decision. The many individuals who consider themselves concerned by this complaint hope to be able to benefit, too, from compensation.
