Proof that power cuts worry the French, the EcoWatt application, supposed to warn in the event of an alert, has been downloaded more than 700,000 times. But in the event of load shedding at your home, will you be compensated for the inconvenience caused? Probably not, but procedures exist if the outage continues or your appliance stops working afterwards.
During the last presidential election, MoneyVox proposed that for any service contract, an interruption or degradation be compensated in the form of a reduction equivalent to the deterioration on the customer’s next invoice. A few months later, the request has not been translated into law, but the power cuts that threaten this winter, according to repeated warnings from the government, put the subject back at the heart of consumer questions. What will happen if your home is affected by a red EcoWatt, ie by a power cut? And, above all, will you be entitled to ask for a financial compensationon a pro rata basis, on the next electricity bill?
Contacted by MoneyVox, the energy suppliers EDF, Plm and Alpiq respond bluntly: no commercial gesture is planned because it would be of a case of force majeure, suffered by all the actors. An argument confirmed by Franois Carlier, general delegate of the consumer defense association CLCV. In the state, in case of load shedding, Enedis, network manager, confirms MoneyVox to be legally bound to implement these localized cut-off measures. (…) This falls into the category of exceptional events and does not give rise to compensation.
Symbolic compensation after 6 hours of interruption
In fact, only a government decree could set up compensation. This is also how it was possible to prevent the hot water tanks from being filled between 12 and 2 p.m., via the Linky meter, to limit electricity consumption. The services of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne did not respond to MoneyVox’s requests.
The cuts announced, if they take place, will be of the order of 2 hours and today the damages intervene the sixth hour of cut, specifies the founder of Plm nergie Lancelot d’ Hauthuille MoneyVox. In this case, the suppliers receive a sum from Enedis which is then paid back to the customers. Although this amount is symbolic, he believes. Indeed, this discount only applies to the delivery costs, counted in the subscription amount, which are applied to energy. Basically, the electricity bill is divided into three parts: the price per kilowatt hour (kWh), the subscription price and taxes.
According to article 6 of decree no. 2001-365 of 26 April 2001, the fixed part of the tariff for use of the public electricity distribution and transmission networks (TURPE) was subject to a flat-rate allowance of 2% in the event of a supply interruption of more than 6 hours attributable to a failure of the public transport network or a public distribution network. This reduction passes 4% for a cut between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. and so on for entire periods of 6 hours, specifies the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE). In addition, all users automatically benefit from this reduction without them having to request it.
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Disputes settled on a case-by-case basis
If the question of compensation for cuts this winter seems settled, other hassles remain to come and have already been identified by the government and by consumer defense associations, during a recent calibration meeting.
For instance, cutting an elevator two hours is simple, but the stop is too long to put it back into service as one activates a switch. The intervention of technicians will probably be necessary and some users will be penalized. While businesses are likely to be the most affected, these harms may result in compensation from Enedis, on a case-by-case basis, for individuals. In certain cases, the national energy mediator may also be called upon to arbitrate a dispute.
On the other hand, if during a power outage, some of your electrical equipment was damagedspecifies Enedis, the procedure consists of contacting your insurer who will himself take steps vis–vis Enedis to determine his possible liability.