Stechnical subject, but everyday subject. The future selling price of nuclear electricity in France, the main source of production in the country, will have a significant impact on the electricity bills of users and businesses. The whole issue, still unresolved, is to know which one.
On November 14, 2023, long months of bilateral negotiations resulted in the presentation of an agreement between the government and the public group EDF, the sole operator of the French nuclear fleet. However, this new regulation on the remuneration of the atom supposes a contortion.
On the one hand, the executive intends to ensure profitability for the electrician, presented as the ” armed arm “ of its policy, according to the expression of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition. In perspective, very heavy projects for the company: between six and fourteen nuclear reactors to be built, not to mention the deployment of solar and wind power, despite an abysmal net financial debt (64.8 billion euros, mid- 2023). On the other hand, the government promises consumers a stable price, warding off a new surge. This is under the strict control of the European Commission, which defends the principle of opening the electricity market to competition.
Even before the examination by French parliamentarians, scheduled for 2024, of a bill relating to energy sovereignty, consumer associations have already expressed their fears. They fear even higher ratings, to the benefit of EDF.
The State once again became the sole shareholder, in June 2023, of this company, after giving up, in 2022, the highly contested “Hercules” project, which planned to split it. “The State and EDF collude at the expense of consumers to charge an exorbitant price for nuclear power”, criticizes the CLCV (Housing consumption and living environment). This “carpet dealer agreement”according to UFC-Que Choisir, weighs “an unjustified inflationary risk”.
Political message
The new regulation resulting from the November 2023 agreement has the value of a political message, in the midst of a relaunch of the atom. But its application, expected for the 1er January 2026, is based on a bet as distant as it is complex, based on projections over fifteen years, until 2040.
On the wholesale market, where suppliers obtain their supplies from producers before reselling energy to consumers, the State expects the average selling price of nuclear power to turn ” around “ – this is the adverb of Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance – 70 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
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