A statement which seems to contradict the austerity policy advocated by the new government and the alert launched at the end of September by the French Electricity Union of an escalation in prices by 2026.
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While the government is looking for savings, “80% of French people” at regulated rates “will see their bill drop in January”assures government spokesperson Maud Bregeon on Sunday October 6, questioned in “Political Questions”, about a possible increase in prices. The decrease will be “around 10%”specifies the spokesperson, despite the upward adjustment of a tax on electricity.
In search of 60 billion euros to complete the 2025 budget, the government will increase the domestic final consumption tax on electricity (TICFE), confirms the spokesperson, so that it finds “a normal pre-crisis level”. “It’s not an increase, it’s a return to normal,” insists Maud Bregeon, echoing the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, guest on France 3, who recalls that the government had warned that the electricity tax would be remitted “at the pre-crisis level as soon as the drop in the price of electricity on international markets allows it”. “The drop in market prices will in any case more than compensate for this tax,” assures Maud Bregeon to explain the drop in announced invoices which may appear “contradictory”.
Electricity taxes have been reduced “drastically two years ago”reminds the government spokesperson to compensate for the surge in prices with the war in Ukraine and the struggling nuclear reactors. “It is appropriate to gradually move away from the tariff shield”indicates Maud Bregeon. The TICFE must therefore return to “32 euros per megawatt hour” after being lowered to 50 cents during the inflationary crisis. “We increased this tax a year ago and we are continuing to return to a normal level”. For details, the spokesperson refers to the presentation of the budget, by the minister in charge, Laurent Saint-Martin.