Soon an “energy pass”? The point on the rumors in the face of the crisis

It was last July that rumors of a potential “energy pass” began to surface, as reported by Midi Libre. The conspiratorial and anti-vaccine pass sphere has indeed taken hold of the subject, especially on social networks, which has given rise to incendiary tweets.

Among the most assiduous rabid Internet users, we find Florian Philippot, one of the main organizers of the protest movement against the government’s health policy. He tweeted for example last Sunday:

And this week, the restrictions linked to gasoline shortages, again gave food for thought to the polemicists. The implementation of restrictive measures in several forms is decried, detractors basing themselves on various rumors converging on a suspicion of generalized planning of an “energy pass”.

This conspiratorial trend is also characterized by the fact that critics seem to rely on the dubious assumption that the government has the same strategy in the face of the energy crisis as in the face of the pandemic.

From Photoshop montages to the extreme overinterpretation of snippets of sentences uttered by members of the government, most of these rumors remain either entirely unfounded or partially untrue. Planet therefore offers you a point-by-point feedback on each of them, by theme.

There is a rumor that the government is considering imposing telework on the French again in order to save energy and fuel. According to Le Parisien, private sector companies are absolutely not concerned, the only measure envisaged being a 15% increase in the telework package for civil servants. Their transition to telework in the event of extreme pressure on the electricity network is also envisaged.

Regarding a supposed shutdown of internet boxes remotely, required of operators by the government, this is a gross exaggeration. The Minister for Digital Transition spoke on this subject on Monday, but simply to encourage operators to generalize an optional function allowing the automatic standby of internet boxes at night, again according to the Ile-de-France daily.

As winter approaches, there is also great apprehension regarding potential restrictions on heating and access to hot water.

The introduction of police checks and fines to enforce a 19°C heating limit in French homes is in fact only an incentive measure, as the Minister for Energy Transition confided. at the Parisian. The 19°C regulation has already existed in law since the 1970s, but is only very rarely checked.

Regarding hot water cuts, this remains perhaps the best-founded rumor. Indeed, from October 15, Enedis customers subscribing to a peak hour/off-peak hour contract will see their hot water tank deactivate between noon and 2 p.m., as reported by Le Parisien. However, unless you consume a lot exactly on this time slot, an individual would not realize it, the balloon tank helping.

Finally, one of the sensitive points of the French remains the restriction of their freedom to come and go, the memory of confinement certainly having something to do with it…

Indeed, the fuel consumption of individuals is already being restricted by the decisions of several prefectures in the face of the current shortage. However, there is no indication of the sustainability of these measures other than the severe stock-out situations, which currently remain closely linked to the strike by the Esso and TotalEnergies unions.

Finally, the possibility of energy confinement, assuming energy and fuel savings in the context of collective confinement, is to be excluded according to Le Parisien. The closure of certain infrastructures is only considered by a few companies or sectors in the face of soaring energy prices.