Two of the main French electricity suppliers, TotalEnergies and Engie, intend to reward their customers’ sobriety this winter, an approach that is similar to some of the contracts offered by EDF for several years.
These initiatives are amplified by fears of tensions on the network, given the gas supply problems and the difficulties encountered by the French nuclear fleet.
The oil and gas giant TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday a discount on its bill ranging from 30 to 120 euros for its customers who will reduce their electricity consumption this winter, as part of calls for energy sobriety.
“This reward, called Bonus Conso, is a bonus ranging from 30 euros to 120 euros depending on the decrease in consumption that will be achieved by the customer,” said the company in a statement.
To benefit from it, customers must have had an electricity contract with TotalEnergies since November 2021, be equipped with a Linky meter and not have changed their home since last winter.
According to the company, this would affect “more than three million households”.
In concrete terms, TotalEnergies will compare household consumption data between November 2022 and March 2023 with that of the same period the previous year, without taking into account the “weather effect”, i.e. variations in temperature from one year to the next.
“The amount of the bonus will be proportional to the reduction in consumption achieved by the customer” at the end of the winter, from 30 euros for 5% reduction in consumption to 120 euros for 20% reduction.
This amount will then be deducted from the invoices of the customers concerned as of April.
“This bonus is in addition to the savings made by the customer thanks to the reduction in consumption,” TotalEnergies said in its press release.
This approach is similar to the one announced by Engie, with the first “My Engie Bonus” campaign launched in mid-October for individual customers who have agreed “to access their daily electricity consumption data and have declared their interest in taking part in daily challenges on days when the electricity network is under strain”.
“The daily challenge is to reduce its electricity consumption by x% compared to its forecasted consumption, based on the customer’s consumption on the same day of the last three previous weeks (D-7, D-14 and D-21),” the operator said.
At EDF, the approach is a little different, with the existence for many years of contracts allowing savings on its
electricity by deferring its consumption to certain days (blue or red).
white) rather than others (red).
