The increase in a tax on gas on January 1 will increase the bill for subscribers

According to a decree published on Saturday in the Official Journal, the excise, one of the taxes paid by natural gas suppliers, will almost double on January 1, 2024. An increase which will be reflected in subscribers’ bills.

This is a mechanical increase in the bill. One of the taxes paid by natural gas suppliers, the excise, will almost double on January 1, 2024. Generated by the end of the tariff shield announced by the government, this increase must automatically increase the bill for subscribers. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, nevertheless declared, in September, that the tax increase would be “without impact on the consumer”. The increase in excise duty should generate 1.9 billion euros in savings for the State.

The normal excise rate on natural gas for fuel use, which has replaced the internal consumption tax on natural gas since 2022, will increase to 16.37 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), compared to 8.45 euros currently. details a decree published on Saturday December 30 in the Official Journal. This price corresponds to the ceiling authorized by the 2024 finance law.

An increase of 0.8 cents per kWh

“For half of gas subscribers who have opted for a fixed price tariff offer, the increase in excise duty will lead to an increase in the gas bill of around 8 euros per megawatt hour”, explains Nicolas Goldberg, analyst specializing in energy at Colombus Consulting, to AFP. As individual bills are often presented in kWh, this equates to an increase of 0.8 cents per kWh. Many current fixed offers are offered by suppliers at a little more than 0.100 euros including tax, or 10 cents, per kWh.

The other half of subscribers signed offers based on an index, known as the “sales benchmark”, established every month by the Energy Regulatory Commission, and which replaces, since July 1, the regulated sales prices of gas (TRVG). At the Ministry of the Economy, it is estimated that this index could fall, going from 123 euros/MWh in December for consumption linked to cooking or hot water in the low range, to an average of 114 euros over the first three month of the year, according to market expectations to date. The consumer would therefore not benefit from the drop in prices, since the tax would cause the gas bill to remain around the price paid in December.

The current price is at the same level as that of the exit from the tariff shield, on July 1, 2023. The executive has been organizing for several months this gradual exit from the tariff shield, deployed since the end of 2021 to moderate the impact of the surge in prices of gas and electricity.