manufacturers worry about their future electricity bills

Industrialists fear paying significantly more for electricity from EDF after 2025. They are asking the electrician to quickly negotiate the terms of their future contracts.

At the end of the year, French manufacturers are already worried about their future electricity bills, which will come into force from 2026. This is the year when everything will change for them, under the agreement passed. in November betweenEstate and EDF. Until the end of 2025, these companies will have access to a share of EDF’s nuclear electricity at a discounted price. Afterwards, with the new mechanism, manufacturers will have to enter into contracts directly with the French energy company. But these industrialists are calling on EDF to clarify the terms as quickly as possible.

Manufacturers are indeed expressing their concerns in the public consultation which has just ended. They ask EDF to clarify its commercial policy and the volumes of electricity available because, for them, 2026 is coming very quickly. “People who do calculations today, with the information they have, are afraid of seeing the price of their energy increase significantly compared to what they could have had before the energy crisis of 2022”estimates Alexandre Saubot, president of France Industries, the professional organization of industrialists.

Nearly 8,000 companies identified

“All people who have long-term investments are wondering about the purchase price of their electricity beyond 2025. And therefore investment decisions could not be made or be postponed, while waiting for see clearlyadds the president of France industries. It is normal that we do not have all the answers today. But we all have to work together, determinedly and quickly, to provide the answers that manufacturers are waiting for by spring.”

France Industries thus identifies just under 8,000 companies for which the price of electricity is decisive. If prices increase too much, they risk ceasing part of their activity in France to deploy them in other, more competitive countries.

Agreements hoped for next spring

These negotiations are therefore above all a question of price. In the agreement reached in November, the State and EDF set a benchmark price of 70 euros per megawatt hour (mWh) of nuclear electricity. But for industries that consume a lot, much lower prices are needed. “The target prices that we need to maintain these plants in France vary between 30 and 55 euros per MWh, at most”certifies Nicolas de Warren, president of the Union of Energy-Using Industries (Uniden).

To achieve these prices, the agreement provides for the establishment of contracts over several years, in the medium and long term, and group purchases for several companies. But the negotiations are not moving fast enough according to the manufacturers. “There is no agreement to date on significant contracts. We now very clearly expect EDF to come to the negotiating table and move forward concretely with its proposals, to achieve the objectives we need”, hopes Nicolas de Warren. Manufacturers hope to achieve these objectives, in contracts, by spring.