This is more bad news for the French affected by inflation. As part of the gradual disappearance of the price shield in force since the fall of 2021, decided by the government, electricity taxes increased on Thursday February 1, leading to a general increase in bills. In detail, the 9.3 million households subscribing to a differentiated rate between peak and off-peak hours will see this increase by 9.8% on average. For the 10.6 million households at the basic rate, the increase will be 8.6%.
In this context, you may be thinking about changing supplier to benefit from the most advantageous offer based on your consumption. How to navigate among the diversity of contracts offered? How to compare them? Here are some tips to guide you in your research.
1 Understand the different offers offered
Two main types of offers exist: offers at regulated prices and market offers. For the former, the regulated prices are set twice a year, on February 1 and August 1. They are decided by the State, on a proposal from the Energy Regulatory Commission, which formulates a tariff recommendation for individual customers and another for professionals. Only EDF and a few small historical operators established locally have the right to offer these offers.
The market offers, which all suppliers offer, including EDF, display prices decided freely by those who market them, and are divided into three categories. Some market offers are at a fixed price: the company undertakes to sell you electricity at a constant rate for a fixed period (one year or two years, for example). In most cases, only the price per kWh is truly fixed. The cost invoiced for the subscription and taxes can always change during the contract, underlines the Energy Mediator.
There are also market offers with variable prices, which follow the evolution of electricity prices. By choosing this option, you expose yourself to “significant increases during the contract”because the purchase price of electricity by your supplier fluctuates strongly depending on supply and demand, and in particular the geopolitical context, warns the Energy Mediator.
Finally, certain market offers are indexed to the price set by the State. Which means “their price evolves relative to the regulated rate, at the same frequency and in compliance with the indexation level defined in the contract”, explains the Mediator. They are therefore not necessarily the same price as an offer at a regulated rate: a supplier can, for example, commit to a price per kWh which will always be 10% lower than that set by the State.
2 Choose a contract adapted to your consumption
With a classic contract, sometimes called a “basic option”, you pay for your electricity at the same price regardless of the time of day. But there are also contracts which distinguish between peak and off-peak hours, and whose price varies depending on the time of day when you consume energy. Their subscribers pay an advantageous price for their electricity during 8 off-peak hours, but more expensive than the basic offer during the 16 peak hours. Off-peak hours are not the same for everyone, but are necessarily distributed between noon and 5 p.m. or between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The time slots are set by the network manager, Enedis, depending on your place of residence. They are listed on the contract and on the invoices.
For this option to be financially attractive, you must therefore be able to consume a significant part of your electricity (at least 30%) during off-peak hours, for example by running household appliances (dishwasher, washing machine) on these periods. schedules, and by programming the hot water tank at night. The option “is less financially attractive than before for a large number of consumers”, warns the Energy Mediator. Especially if you telework from home, and therefore consume more during the day. The body provides a simulator to calculate, based on your consumption, whether this type of contract would be profitable for you.
Other subscriptions offer variable prices according to other criteria, such as offers which apply a lower price for most of the year, but very high on days corresponding to peak consumption, most often in winter. A type of contract which therefore requires flexibility to reduce your bill.
3 Pay attention to all elements of the invoice
The evolution of prices is only one of the parameters to take into account when choosing your electricity contract. When looking at the offers, compare both the price per kWh, which, depending on your consumption, will determine the variable part of your bill; and that of the subscription, which represents the fixed part of what you will pay.
Also choose your billing method carefully. Some suppliers offer the possibility of receiving an invoice every month or every two months, based on your actual consumption, details the Energy Mediator. In this case, you only pay for the electricity consumed, but the amount to pay fluctuates from one bill to the next. If the heating in your home is electric, you may notice big differences between seasons. To smooth out your expenses throughout the year, you can opt for monthly payments, and pay a fixed amount each month, based on an estimate of your consumption. However, once the year has passed and your actual consumption is known, you receive a regularization bill: a catch-up if you paid too little, or a refund if you consumed less than expected.
If the price is a central criterion for choosing an offer, also remember to compare the services offered: supplier reachable by telephone or only on the internet, payment methods accepted… Finally, check the existence of possible additional costs, which This concerns a security deposit, penalties in the event of unpaid debts or breakdown insurance.
4 Use an independent comparator
To guide your choice, you can use an offer comparator. Some of these are developed by private companies, which may be paid by energy suppliers and may not list all available offers. It is instead advisable to use the comparator made available by the Energy Mediator, the only one to be public and independent of players in the sector. It is exhaustive, since it lists all the suppliers. By providing information about your home and your electricity consumption, you will access estimates based on existing offers.
5 For “green offers”, check the supplier’s commitment
Energy companies can market “green offers” aimed at customers concerned about the climate and the environment. However, this does not mean that the customers who have subscribed to it are exclusively supplied with renewable electricity (wind, hydraulic, solar, etc.). “It is physically impossible to determine the origin of the electricity delivered to a given customer”recalls the Energy Mediator. “It is the same electricity that is delivered to all customers connected to the French electricity network, regardless of the supplier and the type of offer.”
As part of a “green offer”, the supplier actually undertakes to buy certificates, called guarantees of origin, from renewable energy producers, in proportion to the electricity it sells to customers who have subscribed to this offer. The issuer of this guarantee then injects a quantity of green energy into the network. However, suppliers can purchase their Guarantee of Origin certificates anywhere in Europe, including Iceland. Moreover, “the currently very low price of certificates does not really make it possible to finance the development of new renewable energy installations”points out the energy transition agency (Ademe).
For greater transparency, Ademe has created a label, called VertVolt, awarded according to the level of commitment of suppliers to remunerate renewable energy producers in France and to support their development. It requires suppliers to specify where and by what means the electricity they supply is produced. Eight companies, listed on the Ademe website, have obtained this label.
6 Don’t be afraid to change suppliers
Changing electricity supplier is free and easy. If you are not satisfied with your offer, you can choose a new one at any time, insists the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention. Even if you have chosen a contract guaranteeing you a price over one year, for example, it is possible to terminate it before its end.
To change your offer, the only necessary step is to take out a new contract. Your new supplier will be responsible for notifying the previous one. The Energy Ombudsman advises against canceling your contract yourself, as you may have to pay commissioning fees. Whatever happens, you do not risk being deprived of electricity in the meantime: until the change date, your current supplier will continue to provide you with energy.