A call for arm wrestling.

This Friday, the day of the launch of the Fête de l'Humanité, the national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), Fabien Roussel, calls on town halls, local authorities and companies not to "pay their electricity bills", in a interview granted to the

Parisian

.

"I call on the mayors, the presidents of local authorities but also the companies to no longer pay their electricity bills when these increase in unacceptable proportions", announces the deputy from the North, evoking "a call for republican resistance ".

Local authorities deprived of a tariff shield

Towns and villages "which do not have access to the regulated electricity tariff are not intended to be mowed, he adds, what is at stake is the closing of our swimming pools, our theaters, the heating of our schools or our nursing homes.

We will see if these private groups dare to cut off the electricity”.

Jean-Pierre Bosino, the communist mayor of Montataire, a town of 13,600 inhabitants near Creil (Oise), had already threatened at the end of August "to stop paying" for electricity in his town if nothing was done to relieve the communities which, unlike individuals, are subject to the market price, without a tariff shield.

About thirty swimming pools, managed by the company Vert Marine, a public service delegate, were thus closed at the beginning of the week, citing the cost of energy bills.

Prices that reach records

Electricity prices for 2023 on the wholesale market broke a record for France at the end of August, reaching more than 1,000 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh), against around 85 euros per MWh a year ago.

"We find ourselves in a completely crazy situation where mayors will have to choose between extracurricular activities for kids, swimming pools or paying these bills," said Ian Brossat, PCF spokesperson on Sud Radio. .

For Fabien Roussel, the State must "compensate for the difference" between the regulated tariff and that actually invoiced, France must "exit the European energy market" and "invest massively in our nuclear power stations which we have abandoned".

"It's too easy to blame Putin and the war in Ukraine on the backs of people when you know it's the result of fifteen years of deregulation under Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron," he says.

“A real question”

“Fabien Roussel plays politics, this idea of ​​calling on mayors not to pay is an idea that I hear but it is not in my opinion an effective response to the difficulties we are encountering”, reacted Guy Geoffroy, mayor of Combs-la-Ville (Seine-et-Marne) and vice-president of the AMF.

"There is a difference between the observed reality of not being able to physically be in a position to pay a bill but it is another thing to refuse to pay it," he added.

"It is obvious that the associations of elected officials cannot give instructions not to pay their bills, but Fabien Roussel asks a real question because many municipalities are on the bone", declared André Robert, general delegate of the Association of Small Towns of France (APVF).

“We cannot condone this kind of message.

There is work being done at European level to regulate energy prices and we are counting on the public authorities to put in place a regulation tool", underlines Sébastien Martin, president of Intermunicipalities of France.

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  • Economy

  • Energy

  • Fabien Roussel

  • Communities

  • electricity

  • War in Ukraine