From LFI to RN via Les Républicains, the opposition is unanimous in denouncing the European energy market, accusing it of being responsible for the increase in electricity bills.
They ask that France get out, following in the footsteps of Spain and Portugal.
Getting out of this mechanism would not be the solution to permanently lower electricity prices, specialists explain to
20 Minutes
.
Astronomical bills and a designated culprit.
From the Republicans to the National Rally, via La France insoumise, all point the finger at the European energy market, accusing it of being responsible for the increase in electricity bills.
On Monday, it was Bruno Retailleau, president of the LR group in the Senate, who called it "madness which aligns the price of electricity with that of gas" and demanded France's exit from this device.
This is also what Manuel Bompard, LFI deputy, said on Monday at the microphone of BFMTV.
Jordan Bardella castigated an "absurd mechanism", in a text published on Monday, and called for emulating Spain and Portugal, which would have come out of it.
Even Bruno Le Maire was circumspect, calling for a decoupling of gas and electricity prices.
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What these political figures are pointing to is part of the European market.
Since 1996, this has provided for several measures, such as the end of monopolies, or the cost of electricity prices aligned with the cost of the last power plant.
It is this last mechanism that these elected officials denounce.
The last plant refers to the gas plant, which is called last on the wholesale market, after renewable energies and nuclear.
On this wholesale market, producers resell to suppliers and large consumers.
Gas-fired power plants are called on if the renewable or nuclear supply is not sufficient.
"The big advantage of the market is that at every moment it will select the cheapest power plant to satisfy a given level of demand", summarizes with
20 Minutes
Boris Solier, head of the Energy Economics master's degree at the University of Montpellier.
A “fairly logical” system
“We are going to call the power stations in order of increasing marginal cost, explains the researcher.
The marginal cost is the variable cost of production, ie the fuel cost.
For a gas plant, it is how much gas I need to generate electricity and at what price I buy this gas.
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This last power plant balances supply and demand.
“This system is quite logical.
He sends an incentive to producers, adds the lecturer.
As soon as there is a producer who can effectively cover his variable costs when the cost of electricity is high enough [due to demand], he produces.
If the price of electricity is 50 euros and the production cost of a nuclear plant is 30, the plant will produce.
If the price falls to 10, it will not produce, because the demand is too low.
It is a system that is quite virtuous, because it encourages producers to offer a cost on the market that is close to their production costs.
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Spain and Portugal have obtained a derogation to develop the European market
Spain and Portugal have not left this market, but have obtained a temporary exemption, remind
20 Minutes
Anna Creti, professor of economics at Paris Dauphine-PSL University and member of a think tank to reform the European energy market.
Spain has thus implemented a ceiling on the price of gas used for the production of electricity.
“They have a national price which is a little disconnected from the European price insofar as they subsidize their electricity producers, recalls Boris Solier.
These producers buy on the European market.
When they place their order on the electricity market, they take into account a gas price of 40 euros instead of taking into account a price of 170 or 200 euros, which obviously lowers the cost of producing electricity. electricity in Spain.
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If households have seen their bills drop, the effect is not as significant as expected, say the researchers.
“This measure is not neutral for the consumer, it must be financed if we want gas at a price lower than that of the market, underlines Anna Creti.
There is a tax between one and seven euros per month on the electricity bill.
In addition, "many more Spanish households are at a rate that is close to the wholesale market compared to France", adds Boris Solier.
The situation in France is different from that of Spain and Portugal
The situation of Spain and Portugal is very different from that of France, remind these specialists: due to the geographical location of these two countries, their electricity networks are less interconnected with the rest of Europe.
These countries receive liquefied gas, so they are less dependent on Russian gas delivered by pipeline.
Could France leave, at least partially, this European market?
Specialists interviewed by
20 Minutes
hardly consider it.
France is the most interconnected country in Europe, which allows it to import energy from its neighbors when it needs it and to export it when production exceeds demand.
Historically, France is more of an exporter of electricity because of its nuclear fleet, remarks Anna Creti.
An exit from this market "risks exposing it even more to hazards", summarizes Stefan Aykut, professor of sociology at the University of Hamburg and associate researcher at the University of Paris-Est, while the reactors of nuclear power plants are not not returned to their full capacity and that France has fallen behind in the development of renewable energies.
“We need as many different energy sources as possible”
"In the current crisis situation, what is key is diversification," says the specialist.
As many different energy sources as possible are needed.
What the European market and the interconnections allow is rather to cushion shocks.
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These also make it possible to direct prices downwards or at least to limit increases, argues the researcher: "When we look in detail at what prevents prices from soaring even more, it is because there is a number of counterbalancing risks.
For example, this European market has renewable wind power capacities.
Today [Wednesday, January 4], wind power is working at full capacity in Germany, which means that part of the lack of production at the moment in France can be compensated by this renewable.
When you inject renewables, it lowers prices, because they produce at very low prices.
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The European Commission has initiated discussions on how to get out of the emergency measures and develop this European market.
On 19th December the Energy Ministers of the 27 Member States agreed to cap gas prices.
However, the level of this cap is well above current market prices, which are currently falling.
Even if Greece has tabled a proposal to decouple electricity prices from the price of gas, “for the moment it is difficult to envisage what types of reforms can be put in place, summarizes Boris Solier.
This market is for the moment above all a thermometer: it shows that we have an electricity deficit and that production costs have soared.
Nothing has yet been decided in Brussels.
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