Unpaid bills led to a million electricity and gas ‘cut-offs’ in France in 2025
The number of accounts affected has risen by 79% since 2019
More than a third of households in France struggle to pay their energy bills
Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock
A total of 1.2 million gas and electricity accounts were cut off or had reduced power in France last year due to late-paid or unpaid bills, newly released data show. This is a 79% rise in comparison to 2019.
The national energy mediator (an independent public authority) said that while the number of energy ‘interventions’ had dropped by 3.7% in 2025 compared to 2024, the number had increased significantly overall in the past five years.
The authority defines ‘interventions’ as power restrictions, power cuts or interruptions to energy supply due to unpaid bills (or bills paid late).
It states that since the pandemic, energy bills have risen significantly worldwide as a result of the war in Ukraine and the economic uncertainty after the health crisis.
In France, the knock-on effects were limited due to the bouclier tarifaire (tariff shield), but costs still increased.
More than a third (36%) of households in France said they struggled to pay a gas or electricity bill in the last 12 months, figures from the mediator in October 2025 showed.
This is a significant increase from 2024 (28%) and 2020 (18%).
The average monthly bill for a couple living in a 50m² home in France was €130 in 2025, said price comparison site Lesfurets.com.
Power reduction rather than cut
The mediator says that it prefers to reduce power supply to households that have unpaid bills, rather than go straight for total power cuts, and urges energy suppliers to comply with this policy.
This is because a reduction in supply is simpler for companies to enact remotely, and also because it is “more bearable for households” that are probably already struggling.
To this end, it states that total cuts of power have fallen by 48.7% since 2019 (and by 30% alone from 2024 to 2025), but power reductions have increased by 3.5 times.
Account holders will always receive multiple warnings online and by post in the event that a bill remains unpaid, meaning that no household will have its energy supply reduced or cut off without ample notice.
Head of France’s national energy ombudsman Bernard Doroszczuk has called for a ban on total electricity disconnections, particularly amid what he calls the “increase in energy poverty”.
He has also said that the chèque energie (government aid energy cheque) should be allocated to all households based on their revenu fiscal de référence (RFR, taxable income) alone.
The chèque energie, which helps households to pay for energy costs, is already means-tested, but last year, households had to additionally prove that their RFR per consumption unit (adult in the home) was less than €11,000 in 2023. In 2025, 3.8 million households automatically received the aid.
If your energy bill has increased recently and you believe the change is too high, it is possible to contest it. There are also ways to compare energy prices and switch to find the best deals.
