Regulated electricity prices will rise by another 10% on February 1. Is your contract affected and should you change it? Response elements.
Household wallets will suffer again. From February 1, the electricity bill will increase between 8.6% and 9.8%, or even a little more, depending on the contracts. According to simulations provided by Bercy, subscribers to the basic option of the EDF regulated tariff (10.6 million in 2022) will see their average bill increase by 8.6%. The average bill for a household at the blue rate will increase from 771 euros in 2023 to 837 euros in 2024, i.e. 56 euros more.
Prices for the off-peak option will jump further: + 9.8%, i.e. 160 euros more on an announced average of 1,667 euros for 2024. The increase will even reach 10.1% for the 400,000 subscribers in 2022 of the EDF option Erasure of peak days (EJP): 150 euros additional per year for an average bill of 1,517 euros. Concretely, for a one-room apartment, the increase will be 8.3 euros per month or 17.8 euros per month for a 4-room house heated by electricity.
A tax increase of 6 billion euros
The increase will therefore be bad for the more than 21 million consumers who have a contract at the EDF regulated rate. It is explained not by the evolution of energy prices but by an increase in the domestic tax on final electricity consumption (TICFE). This was reduced by the government as part of the tariff shield, put in place in 2021, to limit the impact of soaring electricity prices on the markets.
We’re getting back to normal
It is a difficult decision, but it is a decision which is necessary to guarantee our capacity to invest in new electricity production capacities and then to definitively exit whatever the cost, justified the Minister of Energy. Economy Bruno Le Maire. We are getting back to normal.
This is the last increase in this tax for the year 2024. The next one will be on February 1, 2025, we will return to the situation which was that before the tariff shield, added Bruno Le Maire. With this operation, the State is counting on 6 billion euros in tax revenue this year.
Electricity bill: how to understand it
Bring in the competition
But this increase in taxation will also automatically have an impact on the bills of all customers of alternative suppliers like TotalEnergies. This is a general increase applicable to all consumersanalyzes Antoine Autier, head of studies at UFC-Que Choisir.
A decision which adds to the increase of 4% in the regulated rate in February 2022, 15% in February 2023 and 10% in August 2023. As a result, the total increase over 2 years exceeds 40%.
In this context, Antoine Autier recommends more than ever to consumers to compare their contract with the competition’s offers. Indeed, if it is impossible to avoid the increase in taxes, on the other hand certain operators offer discounts on the price of energy.
According to the energy mediator’s comparator, an EDF customer with the Base option, consuming 2400 kWh per year with a 9kVA meter, will have to pay 734 euros per year. An amount which does not include the increase on February 1st. On the other hand, for the same consumer profile, it is possible to find a contract with Primeo energie for 539 euros per year. It is a difference of almost 200 euros!
Mathieu BRUCKMULLER
After a master’s degree in social law in Rennes and a third cycle in economic and social information at Paris-Dauphine, Mathieu Bruckmller… Read more
MoneyVox / MB / January 2024