Emmanuel Macron brought together, this Friday morning September 2, what the Élysée calls a Defense Council on energy. Objective: to take stock of the supply of gas and electricity. Summer is coming to an end in Europe and this issue is becoming more sensitive. France has almost finished filling its gas stocks, but cold spells could cause tensions if energy savings are not sufficient.. As for electricity, many nuclear reactors are shut down and the drought has reduced hydraulic stocks. Result: the possibility of load shedding this winter is sometimes mentioned.
Gas and electricity shedding is not organized in the same way. For electricity, before arriving at load shedding, RTE, the company that manages the French electricity transmission network, has several means: ask citizens to voluntarily reduce their consumption, suspend the supply to sites manufacturers who are paid for this or even lower the voltage on the network.
If this is not enough, load shedding may occur. The current would then be cut for a maximum of two hours and over specific time slots; households without electricity in turn. Note that so-called “sensitive” users such as hospitals will be exempt. High-risk patients treated at home can also report to receive specific information.
What about gas?
As far as gas is concerned, it is impossible to organize remote cuts and it is out of the question to ask households to stop the installation themselves: that would be too dangerous.
The device would therefore concern less than 5,000 large consumers. These are certain industrial sites, shopping centers or concert halls. But we don’t turn off the gas for just two hours. According to the government, the order of magnitude would rather be one or two days.
► To read also: In the spotlight: to spend the winter, France is looking for gas and electricity
He wanders worriedly through the shelves. Thierry Cotillard is both director of two supermarkets and president of Perifem, a federation bringing together all of the distribution players. The bills are already high and he fears even more that of next year…
Bills are exploding for food professionals who are asking in particular for regulation of the electricity market and price caps. Report in a supermarket in Ile de France.