New energy check: a boost for French people heating with wood

A new boost that will be welcome. Since Tuesday November 8, many French people heating with fuel oil have benefited from an energy check, depending on their income and the number of people in their homes. In all, 1.6 million people are concerned, for aid ranging from 100 to 200 euros, which will allow them to fill their tank more easily.

As good news never comes alone, a new aid scheme was adopted by the National Assembly during the first reading of the draft amending budget for 2022. This is aid of 230 million euros in total, intended for French homes heating with wood, with logs or pellets, the price of which has exploded in recent weeks. The amendment, carried by the Socialist deputies, was adopted with 218 votes for and only one vote against, which prompted the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal to hail “a great cross-party victory”.

As TF1 Info explains, quoting Ademe (The Agency for the Environment and Energy Management), 3 million households in France use wood for heating, in particular thanks to the rise pellet boilers. Wood prices have jumped 20% in recent months, in the face of increasingly strong demand and the risk of shortages, making it difficult for some French people to buy.

How will this help work? The contours of the device have not yet been revealed, but it could be modeled on the fuel oil check and therefore be between 100 and 200 euros depending on the resources of the households concerned. As a reminder, the latter can also be combined with the exceptional energy check, which could also be the case for the aid for wood heating which has just been voted.