No electricity shortage this winter, but the French continue to make great efforts to reduce their consumption

The previous winter and the sobriety efforts demanded again this year seem to have been beneficial. Electricity consumption has decreased significantly in France over the past two months.

Before the start of winter, remember, the Electricity Transport Network (RTE) forecasts were rather optimistic regarding the risk of cuts in France. Except that in the meantime, a big cold wave crossed a good part of the country, sowing doubt in some minds. Fortunately, the efforts demanded of the French last winter bore fruit!

Energy sobriety works, even in periods of extreme cold

Yes, last winter’s calls for energy sobriety were heard. The French responded well by putting on sweaters, turtlenecks, and lowering thermostats and other heating to around 19°C. In the end: RTE indicates that a drop of 7 to 8% in electricity consumption was observed in November and December.

This reduction, which is excellent news, is part of the trend observed since the fall of 2022. It rewards continued energy savings and is also justified by the inflationary context and high energy prices.

But efforts are not limited to the months of November and December. RTE indicates that the French adopted excellent behavior, even during the cold episode of the second week of January. Consumption reached a peak of between 83 and 84 gigawatts (GW), whereas before the energy crisis, it would undoubtedly have been around 90 GW.

All the signals are green… except the prices!

Reassuringly, this decline now pushes us, and this is all the better, to classify the risk of security of electricity supply as “ weak », and this for the rest of the winter. In other words, there should be no major disruption.

The fact that the nuclear fleet is operating at an optimal level, with 47 out of 56 reactors in operation, obviously helps. As for other methods of electricity production (wind and hydraulic), they show results higher than historical averages. The gas supply is considered “controlled”. And France is once again clearly an exporter.

Despite an increase of more than 40% in electricity prices in two years, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced in recent days an increase of 8.6% in the base tariff and 9.8% % for peak and off-peak hours from 1^er February 2024. And to think that the tariff loop is still in force…

Sources: RTE, The Parisian