Elisabeth Borne did not rule out the disaster scenario of power cuts in individuals, “if all the bad assumptions combine”.
If she ruled out possible gas cuts for individuals this winter, Elisabeth Borne did not, however, close the door to “rotating load shedding” on electricity when temperatures drop. “It can happen if all the wrong assumptions come together, if Russia cuts off its (gas) supplies, if ever there are tensions over LNG (liquefied natural gas) […]if there is a very cold winter“warned the Prime Minister on the set of the program”Dailyon TMC Tuesday.
These cuts are decided by RTE, the operator of the electricity transmission network, to guarantee the balance between supply and demand for electricity and thus avoid the “blackout“. “Last resort solution“, underlines Patrice Geoffron, director of the Center of geopolitics of energy and raw materials (CGEMP) of the University Paris-Dauphine, they are framed by certain rules.
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As Élisabeth Borne indicated on the TMC set then on France Inter this Thursday morning, the cuts are limited to two hours per household. They can only occur between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Whole quarters can be cut in turn. “We are each time on blocks of 80,000 to 100,000 households», Estimates Julien Teddé, managing director of the energy broker Opéra Énergie, adding that the households concerned «are notified the day before at 6 p.m.“.
Certain non-dischargeable users
Some buildings considered satisfactorybasic needs of the nationcannot be offloaded. The decree of July 5, 1990 lists them. There are hospitals, clinics and laboratories, signaling and street lighting installations.deemed essential for safety», as well as strategic industrial sites, in particular those «of interest to national defense“.
The decree underlines the power of the prefects, who can establish “additional lists of users who, due to their particular situation, can benefit, within the limits of availability, from a certain priority in relation to other users, in particular in the event of an emergency“. We are thinking in particular of high-risk patients treated at home, for example under artificial respirators. “Beforehand, we identified sensitive consumerspointed out Elisabeth Borne on France Inter. We want to make sure that we don’t cut off the electricity to someone who has a medical device. All of this is listed so that there are no dramas because of these cuts.»
The precedent of November 4, 2006
However, if these high-risk patients are not registered on the lists of priority users, they may suffer cuts in the event of high voltage on the electricity network. But, to avoid the terrible consequences that such load shedding could have, they can benefit from a special information system, on registration. It is intended for patients at high vital risk (PHRV) at home, ie patients on a ventilator with an autonomy less than or equal to four hours a day, as well as children on parenteral nutrition.
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In the event of an unexpected power cut, these patients have a dedicated telephone number, also known to the Regional Health Agency (ARS), which they can call to find out the probable duration of the cut and organize themselves Consequently. In the event of a scheduled outage, the electricity distribution company – most often Enedis – notifies patients individually, by post, five days in advance. Registration for this service is the responsibility of the patient, who must complete the documents and send them to their ARS. The device is activated for a period of one year, after which the request must be renewed.
If France were to carry out load shedding in private homes this winter, it would be a first for more than fifteen years. The last time was November 4, 2006, and the voluntary cuts affected all of Western Europe. In the evening, for an hour, nearly 5.7 million French households were cut off from the network (and several other million Europeans), because of the voluntary shutdown of a 400,000 volt power line. in Germany, which had been brought forward by one hour.