Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had gathered ten of her ministers on Monday November 29 to discuss the power cuts that could potentially occur this winter. This subject, considered crucial, was also the subject of an official press release from him in the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. One of his colleagues points out: “Our biggest subject is winter and power cuts.”, as reported by Le Parisien.
Monday morning, the managers of the French electricity transmission network, RTE and Enedis, joined the consultation. The goal was to take stock of the situation and identify potential problems in an attempt to remedy them, before the cuts occurred…
In particular, the issue of telephone relay antennas was discussed, a technical snag that could have serious consequences. Indeed, these antennas only have a very limited autonomy and, without them, it is impossible to make any call, even to contact the emergency services! These are the types of questions that animated Monday’s meeting, which Elisabeth Borne initiated.
A crisis unit was already set up a month and a half ago, in the presence of the ministerial offices concerned and all the prefects. Anne Claire, prefect and former chief of staff of Edouard Philippe, would be at the head. Forecasts for the whole winter are difficult to be reliable: indeed, the weather factor, or rather temperatures, will play a significant role. The weather forecast for this winter is looking pretty bad from an energy point of view: it might be cold. Here is everything the government has planned for power cuts this winter.
