PARIS (Reuters) – The judge in chambers of the Council of State decided on Friday to maintain the increase in the volume of electricity at low prices that EDF must sell to its competitors.
“The judge in chambers considers that the disputed measure is in the public interest and rejects the request for suspension”, can we read in the press release from the Council of State.
This government measure announced in mid-January and intended to limit the increase in regulated electricity prices for consumers was contested by the EDF unions, who considered it penalizing for the group.
In a context of soaring energy prices, the government announced at the beginning of the year an increase in the volume of nuclear electricity sold at a reduced price by EDF to its competitors, within the framework of the Arenh system (regulated access to historic nuclear electricity).
EDF revised upwards in mid-March the negative impact of these measures, to 10.2 billion euros against 8.4 billion previously.
“Neither the investigation nor the hearing demonstrated that this measure created an emergency situation for EDF’s financial interests, the employment conditions of its employees or the property interests of its employee shareholders” , is it specified in the press release of the Council of State, which underlines that it allows on the other hand to “significantly limit the increase in the prices of electricity”.
In the wake of the publication of this decision, the title EDF slightly widened its losses and yielded 1.3% at 09:10 GMT (11:10).
(Written by Myriam Rivet, with contributions from Laetita Volga, edited by Tangi Salaün and Sophie Louet)
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