Interventions for non-payment of energy bills, synonymous with cuts or limitations among consumers, increased by 10% in 2022 despite the tariff shield established to contain the rise in prices, mediating energy.
“Despite the tariff shield and the allocation of additional energy bonds, the number of interventions for non-payment of bills increased in 2022: 863,000 were executed (…), 10% more than in 2021,” said the mediator in a statement.
“For the first time”, the year 2022 will have been marked by “a decrease in power cuts”, by 38%: 157,000 cuts are thus recorded, compared to 254,000 in 2021.
“This evolution is mainly due to the fact that some providers, in particular EDF, following the recommendations of the national energy ombudsman, have decided to carry out power reductions in case of non-payment instead of electricity cuts,” he says. the notice. saying.
In fact, according to the mediator, most of the interventions for non-payments referred to “power reductions, which penalize the affected consumers less”, because they guarantee a minimum service: electricity, refrigerator, telephone recharging, etc. .
610,000 power reductions
Their number jumped in 2022: 610,000 power reductions were registered, an increase of 36% compared to 2021 and a multiplication by 2.2 since 2019, the mediator specifies. About less than a third, 226,000, were made by EDF, according to the incumbent supplier.
Since April 1, 2022, EDF has chosen to no longer suspend the electricity supply in the event of non-payment by its customers, but to reduce its power to 1 kVA or 3 kVA, regardless of the time of year.
A decree published on February 26, 2023 is already binding on all providers: they must supply a minimum electricity supply of 1 kVA for at least 60 days, before a power cut in the event of non-payment for households benefiting from the energy check and Solidarity Housing Fund, equipped with a communicating meter.
With this measure, this year, the end of the winter break on April 1 will no longer be synonymous with direct power cuts for tenants who have difficulties paying rent and bills.
“We must go further”, argues the energy mediator Olivier Challan Belval, who asks to replace power cuts with a reduction in electricity supply, in case of non-payment of bills.
“The current energy crisis raises questions about long-term protection systems for the most fragile consumers,” he commented in the press release.
Source: BFM TV
