Anthony Cellier: “By being imaginative, we can save energy everywhere”

Defeated in the last legislative elections, the former deputy of Gard (LREM) Anthony Cellier recently ceded his functions at the head of the Higher Energy Council. But the man who was the rapporteur for the Energy-Climate bill remains one of Macronie’s best experts on energy issues. Faced with the supply difficulties that are looming, he calls for the “mobilization of all”, and describes some measures likely to generate “significant” volumes of savings…

L’Express: The resumption of Russian gas deliveries removes for a time the specter of a total cut in supplies, which would plunge Europe into a major energy crisis. But the threat remains very real and we must prepare for a very, very complicated winter. Some of our neighbors have started to take energy saving measures, mention rationing devices. This is not yet the case in France. Aren’t we falling behind worryingly?

Anthony Cellier: I wouldn’t talk about a delay… With regard to our gas supply, a decree was issued in the spring to enable us to speed up the filling of our storage, which clearly shows that the current and future tensions had been anticipated. The government has also made a number of commitments to reduce our energy consumption, starting with the public sphere: all state services, all administrations are now encouraged to make efforts in this regard. material, it is not nothing! It will then be necessary to convince the companies to do the same, and from this point of view, the energy sobriety plan announced a few days ago by the distribution players is obviously going in the right direction.

Finally, if the situation requires it, efforts may be requested from all of our fellow citizens. But we must try to see it in a positive way: energy sobriety is a good thing. In any case, we will have to go through this to change our relationship with energy, and free ourselves from our dependence on fossil fuels. This is imperative in the face of the environmental and climate emergency. The war in Ukraine forces us to take this turn more quickly than we imagined. But the geopolitical context is, basically, only the indicator and accelerator of absolutely essential changes.

This discourse is beginning to be well understood by the population. But you are not really answering the question: to “get through” the winter, should we already imagine binding, coercive measures that would have the effect of significantly reducing our energy consumption? And if so, why not put them in place right away, since everyone knows that the end of the year will be at high risk?

It’s all a matter of timing. Do you think that today, when the country is emerging from a ten-day heat wave, that some French people are on vacation and think above all of relaxing, a speech warning about the risks of power cuts or a decrease heating during the winter has a chance to wear? I do not think so. On the other hand, we have to be ready, do this educational work from the start of the school year, and actually prepare the measures to be put in place from the fall to allow us to pass the peaks of consumption without too many clashes, to avoid passing the winter to scrutinize the weather… It will be time, then, to impose more restrictive gestures. But the framework already exists: it is quite simply a question of putting into practice the measures provided for by law, which are not necessarily respected: I am thinking for example of the extinction of illuminated signs, the extinction of offices after the day of work… All you have to do is walk around at night in any business district, in La Défense or elsewhere, to measure the possible margin of progress. These sources of energy savings are quite significant.

In the same spirit, the definition of a stricter framework for adjusting air conditioning and avoiding energy waste is another effective lever. All of this is common sense: there is a general effort to be made in the general interest. And the general interest is that we can continue to benefit from available energy as we have benefited from it for forty years. This presupposes awareness and mobilization of all, at the level of administrations, companies, as well as at the individual level.

Very concretely, in the register of everyday gestures, or common sense measures, what other avenues would you like to see explored by the executive?

In my opinion, all the measures inherent in what is called “diffuse load shedding” are a very interesting prospecting field, for individuals and VSMEs in particular. These are more medium-term responses, not easy to put in place as of next winter, but which would undoubtedly go in the right direction. Clearly, these are devices encouraging people – by paying them – to temporarily lower their energy consumption to meet peaks in demand. Think of everything that can be unplugged for an hour or two without disrupting your daily life. This can be your water heater, your freezer, your heating of course… We all have, in our home, many appliances likely to be stopped, or regulated differently, and in times of high tension like the one that is coming, it can make a difference because across the country as a whole it would release significant volumes of energy. Today, technology allows us this fine control, which is a guarantee of efficiency and energy sobriety.

Another promising avenue: the development of VtoG “vehicle to grids”, taking advantage of the growing number of electric vehicles in circulation. Once connected to the network, these vehicles represent a fairly phenomenal storage capacity, and become a lever in their own right for our energy policy, which it will be possible to operate according to our needs. You see, by being imaginative, efficient, and without necessarily flagellating each other collectively by accusing each other of sending too many e-mails or of using the Internet too much, we can get volumes everywhere.

You talked about measures concerning the public sphere. What leeway do local authorities have to also reduce their energy consumption?

I believe that we can congratulate ourselves on a measure implemented within the framework of the France Relance plan, during the pandemic, and on which I worked a lot with Bruno Le Maire: financial aid facilitating energy renovation in buildings public. This device has worked tremendously, especially in small rural communities, where town halls have seen their energy bills explode for years because their schools, their concrete multipurpose halls are thermal sieves, are equipped with highly carbon-intensive oil-fired boilers, and the filling of which is more and more expensive. Elected officials faced with these problems are well aware that it is essential to start work, but until now they did not have the necessary investment capacity. This is exactly the kind of projects that we have targeted, by releasing specific allocations. A measure of this type ticks all the boxes: it saves energy, helps decarbonize installations and provides a public service by improving the quality of services. As part of the next finance bill, it would be good for this system to be extended.

There is a lot of talk about a tax on the superprofits of energy groups these days. Apart from this tax track, what actions do you expect from these actors, how can they be put to work, in the service of “the general interest”, as you say?

I would like to recall to begin with that a certain number of players have already been called upon, since the contracts concluded with the producers of renewable energies provide for a payment to the State when the wholesale prices exceed the guaranteed tariffs. This will represent a revenue of around 8.6 billion euros this year. The question arises more acutely for “carbon-based” energy companies who are making significant profits at the moment. In my opinion, the most incentive lever and the fastest to operate, probably also the most effective, would be an increase in the coefficients of obligation of energy saving certificates (C2E). This device has the merit of existing. It was created more than fifteen years ago. To put it simply: over given periods, energy suppliers (the obligated ones) are required to undertake work and help their customers to do the same, to save energy and mitigate their impact on the environment. C2Es provide proof of savings. If they do not comply with the objectives, the suppliers in question are penalized financially. Rather than getting into endless debates on the taxation of this or that actor, let’s put them to work by increasing their volume of obligations! You have an immediate effect in terms of efficiency, and you offer more people the opportunity to undertake energy renovation work.