With energy prices reaching peaks, local authorities buy electricity via group orders to save money on public lighting or heating in the town hall or village hall, for example.
It is not enough for a municipality to knock on the door of the neighboring town to order together. It’s necessary go through a negotiating intermediary such as Mayenne Terre d’énergie. Agnès Boissard is in charge of mastery at Mayenne Terre d’énergie. It manages orders from Mayenne municipalities. “The idea is on behalf of several municipalities to be able to negotiate an electricity contract__, generally over a period of three years, which allows them to plan for at least the next three years.“It is therefore the service provider who manages all the order upstream, thanks to knowledge that the local authorities do not have.
As individuals do this for domestic fuel oil or for wood, we organize ourselves between neighbors. Joël Balandraud, mayor of Évron.
The goal is to be several to have more weight, like a courier who will negotiate insurance contracts for his clients. Or as Joël Balandraud, the mayor of Évron, compares it: “like individuals do that for domestic fuel oil or for wood. We organize ourselves between neighbors and we will discuss with a local entrepreneur.“
Represent a weight
“The goal being to actually consolidate our power as a municipalityadds Richard Chamaret, the mayor of Méral. I am the mayor of a rural commune. It is not with some ten delivery points, including public lighting, the village hall and the town hall that we can represent a weight.”
Results : savings of 20% assures the mayor of Évron and costs that would be three times higher without grouped orders, explains the mayor of Méral.