Hoteliers and restaurateurs call on Bruno Le Maire to renegotiate electricity contracts

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP 8:39 p.m., February 12, 2024

Hoteliers and restaurateurs are calling on the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire to renegotiate with electricity distributors the prices of their contracts deemed “above ground”, according to a press release released on Monday. Catherine Quérard, president of the Group of Hotels and Restaurants of France (GHR) and Thierry Marx, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH) denounce "contracts with 'above ground' rates" and ask for Bruno Le Maire to organize a meeting “as soon as possible”.

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“These contracts are very dangerous”

During this meeting, the UMIH and the GHR will be able, "under the aegis" of the minister, to agree with the main energy suppliers and distributors on the terms of contract renegotiation. According to a survey carried out by the two unions at the end of January 2024, "more than half of professionals (59%) remain bound by energy supply contracts at extremely high prices, that is to say above 180 euros per MWh, while the price of the MWh has decreased since the end of 2022 and is less than half of this price. 

“10 to 15% of professionals would even be bound by contracts with prices exceeding 350 euros per MWh,” assure the professional organizations. “These contracts are very dangerous, because they weigh on the profitability of companies, to the point that some are now unable to meet their operating costs and repay their debts,” the unions warn. The “figure of business failures in the sector increased by 44.6% between 2022 and 2023, according to the Banque de France,” they write. 

“Faced with this dizzying increase in the prices of energy, but also of raw materials and personnel costs, professionals have not remained inactive,” declares Thierry Marx, quoted in the press release, “They are trying to adjust their prices But increases cannot be the only answer, especially since they come up against the purchasing power of the French which has been contracting for months. “It is necessary to update the charter signed by the main suppliers in October 2022, to bring on board all stakeholders in the energy sector and ask them to put in place a real mechanism for renegotiation of current contracts, with terminations free of charge ", estimate the UMIH and the GHR.