“It’s hard, but it’s profitable”, these French have chosen an alternative contract to save money

The prospect of saving money on his electricity bill 300 days a year appealed to Loïc, a resident of Cher. Twenty years ago, he signed EDF’s “Tempo” contract.

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In exchange for a commitment to drastically reduce his consumption for 22 so-called “red” days per year (when consumption is very high), he benefits from a cheaper annual subscription and a reduced price per kWh, -17% in peak hours and -9% in off-peak hours over 300 days a year. In return, electricity costs him three times more if he uses it during peak consumption. In these moments, it’s all about the fight, explains Loïc.

“You have to organize yourself a little bit everywhere in the house to check that there is no device on standby and all the machines are started automatically in the evening to make maximum savings.”

Loïc, a Tempo du Cher subscriber

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The Berrichon was also forced to invest in an alternative heating method with pellet stoves so as not to be too cold at home during the red period. “It’s hard the first few times, that’s for sure, but once you’re well disciplined and make sure all the devices are unplugged, it pays off”, he assures. And in fact, Loïc and his family have been living with these constraints for two decades. “I would not see myself switching to a common electrical system”he confides.

Still, the trick shows its limits, protests another “Tempo” subscriber, Marie, who lives in the Channel. “What is very restrictive is when there are five days in a row, that means no heating at all since we have electric heating. We only heat with an oil appliance and that forces us to limit ourselves to the use of two rooms in the house”, she laments. Unlike Loïc, Marie is absolutely not “safe” what “would take the option if it had to be done again”.

Postponing a machine or running your dishwasher the next day, just like thinking about unplugging as many electrical appliances as possible, is not the most difficult thing. On the other hand, anticipating the recharging of one’s telephone or postponing the use of one’s electric hob or the oven is less obvious. But the real problem raised by some users is heating. The “Tempo” option seems more suited to a vacation home that is little used in winter than to a main residence. Out of 29 million EDF customers, 220,000 households had nevertheless made this choice in December 2020, according to the CRE (Energy Regulation Commission).

“Tempo” was no longer actively offered to EDF customers, but the government intends to relaunch it and encourage operators to expand the offer to reduce the tension on the electricity supply, while the risk of shortage increases for this winter. Only 24 of EDF’s 56 nuclear reactors are operating at the moment, which reduces French electricity production to a historically low level.

Mechanical consequence: prices soar. Coupled with the drying up of Russian gas flows to Europe due to the war in Ukraine, wholesale electricity prices for 2023 in France broke a new record on Friday at more than 1,000 euros per megawatt hour (compared to 85 euros one year ago). And for next December specifically, the mWh of electricity is already trading at more than 1,600 euros. To help and encourage electricity suppliers (EDF and others) to offer these formulas, the State has planned a call for tenders with a budget of 30 million euros.