Emmanuelle Wargon, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (Cre), disclosed that the French gas bill will experience an additional rise in July. This was made known at the end of the week with the price increase ranging from 5.5% to 10.4%. Cre had previously hinted at these figures on Friday.
Cre further detailed that a 5.5% rise would translate to a monthly increase of 7.30 euros including tax on a customer’s total bill who utilizes gas for heating. For those using gas merely for hot water and/or cooking, the increase would be 10.4%, which is equivalent to an extra 2.20 euros monthly.
Emmanuelle Wargon attributed this increase to a decrease in gas consumption. She explained that the gas bill consists of the gas molecule’s cost and the maintenance and replacement of the pipes that transport the gas. As gas usage decreases, fewer people bear the cost of maintaining these pipes, causing a slight per consumer increase.
The network manager GRDF stated that three-quarters of the forthcoming increase is a carry-over effect from the previous period, during which costs escalated. The company explained that the price had remained steady for the past four years, therefore, unable to cover all of the company’s expenses.
Cre stated that this tariff helps uphold the network’s high-security level and actively supports the energy transition, primarily through the integration of biogas into the networks. Emmanuelle Wargon explained that the planned investments for biomethane over the next four years are included in the price. These investments would accommodate more biomethane, thereby reducing the share of fossil gas in the gas we use gradually.
