France: The Spanish Iberdrola terminates thousands of electricity contracts | Photo credits: © Iberdrola
PARIS, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Spanish electricity company Iberdrola has terminated electricity supply contracts with thousands of French customers due to an unprecedented rise in energy prices, the group said in a letter that Reuters was able to consult.
Iberdrola, EDF’s biggest competitor in France, advises its customers to change suppliers.
“We invite you to change supplier (..) If you do not do so, you risk an interruption of your electricity supply as soon as your contract with Iberdrola ends”, writes the company to its customers.
A spokesman for Iberdrola in Madrid confirmed the termination of contracts, while specifying that the Spanish group was not leaving the French market.
He clarified that this decision concerned “a few thousand” contracts.
“We do not want to automatically renew contracts with existing customers, as many of them would be seriously affected. It is better for them to opt for the regulated tariff in France,” said the Iberdrola spokesman.
However, he declined to specify how many private clients Iberdrola had in France, but it is estimated to have between 400,000 and 500,000. (Report by Geert De Clercq, French version Matthieu Protard, edited by Tangi Salaün)