The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has launched proceedings against an unnamed alternative electricity supplier for suspicions of reselling at high prices nuclear electricity bought cheaply from EDF, AFP learned from energy police in France on Friday. .
“A procedure has been initiated for abuse of Arenh (Regulated Access to Historic Nuclear Electricity)”, that is, the mechanism by which suppliers buy cheap nuclear electricity from EDF,” the Commission said, confirming information from the Parisian, without revealing the name of the target company.
Ohm Energie denies the accusations.
According to Le Parisien, this survey is aimed at the operator Ohm Energie, founded in 2018 and which has 250,000 customers. Contacted by AFP, the supplier said that “he did not receive any notification from the CRE about the initiation of a process against him.”
The independent authority chaired by former minister Emmanuelle Wargon suspects that the operator bought nuclear electricity from the Arenh and resold it on the markets at a higher price. Facts questioned by the operator, which claims to have “never sold the slightest kWh of Arenh on the markets”, according to its president, François Joubert, a former EDF engineer.
“We try to blame the alternatives”
“After the increase, its prices are still lower or equivalent to those of its competitors and (…) it intends to maintain them throughout the winter without an additional increase,” the company further argued.
CRE investigations can lead to referral to the Committee for Dispute Resolution and Sanctions (CORDIS), which can decide on possible sanctions. At the end of August, the CRE announced that it was reinforcing its surveillance of the market, calling on suppliers to “adopt responsible behavior” amid the escalation in wholesale prices.
Source: BFM TV
