EDF denies it will repay €250 bills

POWER company EDF has tried to play down calls for it to repay billions of euros to customers who were overcharged between 2009 and 2012.

The state-controlled company lost a ruling at the highest administrative court, Conseil d'Etat, over an €8.8billion charge for using the national grid – leading to calls for it to give households a €250 Christmas bonus.

It was accused by the Sipperec group of municipal power supply agencies of overcharging them for supply costs – which make up 46% before tax of household electricity bills.

Sipperec said each household was entitled to a rebate and some sources put it as high as €250. Companies and other electricity users could also be due a refund.

EDF, which is 85% state-owned, says that it sees “no possibility of refunds” and the tariff-setting Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) said that it would need time to work out what should be done.

A CRE statement said the ruling “did not come into effect until June 1, 2013” and its impact would be taken into account and applied retroactively after that. Commentators said that with power tariffs increasing that does not necessarily involve a rebate.

The CRE said it will work out the new rates and then put them to the government for approval.

Consumer group UFC-Que choisir denounced the “lack of transparency and the opacity” of the grid charges, adding: “If consumers are paying too much they should recover the over-payment.”

In a separate announcement, the Conseil d'Etat ruled that the government was wrong to restrict gas prices to a 2% rise in October.

Gas supply company GDF Suez said the rise should have been 8% and it will now decide how to reclaim the underpaid bills. Prices are due to rise in January as part of the quarterly price review.

Last July the Conseil d'Etat ruled against the Sarkozy government for imposing a similar restriction in 2011 and GDF Suez said it would impose the extra payments over two years.
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