Save money on electricity in France with group purchase deal
Two-year fixed-rate offer available until December 20
Supplier Octopus Energy was selected after a call to tenders showed it offered the most favourable savings
CeltStudio/Shutterstock
People living in France could save up to €485 a year on their electricity bills with a new two-year fixed-rate group buying deal.
Consumer organisation UFC-Que Choisir has released details of its new group buying (achat groupé) scheme, called Énergie moins chère ensemble (Cheaper energy together).
Limited to the first 150,000 subscribers, it says it “enables consumers to make significant savings on their bills… against a backdrop of considerable uncertainty surrounding future electricity prices”.
Group buying schemes see an intermediary (in this case, UFC-Que Choisir) negotiate with companies on behalf of a large number of potential customers.
As a result, those customers are offered a lower rate than that of an individual customer of the same firm.
Supplier Octopus Energy was selected after a call to tenders showed it offered the most favourable savings – a 21.1% drop in the price per kWh (excluding taxes and subscription fees) compared to current ‘regulated’ tariffs.
Based on this, UFC-Que Choisir calculated that a gas-heated home consuming 3,000 kWh of electricity per year could make an annual saving of €101 (including VAT).
An electrically heated house using 10,000 kWh per year could make a saving of €321. For families living in large homes, the annual savings could reach €485 when consuming 15,000 kWh.
The rates will remain fixed for two years, excluding changes in taxes and network usage charges, which apply to all energy suppliers.
Subscribers will also benefit from legal protection and receive support from UFC-Que Choisir in the event of complaints during the first year of the offer.
The scheme is available to all apart from a minority with local distribution networks not run by Enedis. More details - along with a simulator - are available here.
