France’s leading gas supplier Engie has written to its subscribers to the regulated gas tariff to prepare them and offer them a relay offer quite close, when this tariff disappears on June 30.
The price of this offer, called “Passerelle” and cancellable at any time without charge, will be indexed on a reference indicator calculated by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CRE) and should not be accompanied by strong increases but only marginal, according to Engie. “The consumer retains absolute freedom,” said Florence Fouquet, director of private markets, during a press briefing. If he switches to “Passerelle” on July 1, he can always change his mind afterwards for a market offer”, with Engie or another supplier, she said.
The announced end of the regulated tariff, in application of European regulations, has awakened fears that the price of gas will increase further. Consumer associations had asked for a two-year moratorium, fearing that the context of the energy crisis and high price volatility could turn into a commercial battle.
The regulated gas tariff began to disappear in 2019, but there are still 2.3 million Engie residential customers in France who hold this type of contract, in a national residential market that has 11 million subscribers. Many are elderly subscribers. For the past three years, information letters have been sent to customers, the last ones in March and April. On July 1, “customers who have not chosen another offer”, at Engie or another supplier, will be offered “a switch offer, to avoid being deprived of access to gas,” said Fouquet.
The “Passerelle” offer will work like the old regulated tariff, in an evolutionary way: “the evolution of the price of the Kilowatt-hour will be able to vary each month by following the reference index of the CRE”, she said.
Currently, the regulated tariff is frozen by the tariff shield introduced by the State to protect consumers and limit increases: +4% on February 1, 2022 and +15% on average on January 1, 2023. While waiting for the July rate, which will only be known in June, the indicative price of the “Passerelle” offer was in April at a level “fairly close” to the regulated rate, although “slightly higher”. “But we expect it to go back below,” Fouquet said, and if gas prices on the markets spike again, the tariff shield would apply.
