Electricity bills may rise 3%

TWO months after electricity prices rose by an average 3.4 per cent, the government is considering another price rise to cover the costs of the switch to renewable energy.

EDF has warned that the price of implementing the Grenelle environmental agreement and introducing 5,400 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels will be heavy: €500 million by 2013 and €1.5 billion from 2020.

Green energy costs are funded in part through the Contribution au Service Public de l'Electricité (CSPE), which covers five per cent of electricity bills.

However, this is not enough to cover the full sum and EDF says the present funding of €4.50 per megawatt/hour should be €6.50.

A report in Les Echos says that Lot-et-Garonne UMP MP Michel Diefenbacher has called for the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) to be given powers to change the CSPE up to a maximum of 50 per cent. He says this would add three per cent to electricity bills.