After the energy check and aid for households heating with fuel oil, it is now those who use wood who are entitled to a boost. This aid of 230 million euros was definitively adopted by Parliament on Friday, November 25, during the Senate’s vote on a final rectified budget for 2022. It is part of a series of measures that have been planned – and most already deployed – this year to help households keep warm this winter in the face of soaring energy prices. Overview.
- Wood check, fuel check
According to the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe), wood is the main source of heating for more than 3 million French people, with more and more pellet boilers. Faced with soaring prices, the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal announced in a interview at Parisian, this Sunday, November 27, that French people who heat themselves with wood will be able to benefit from state aid ranging from 50 to 200 euros, subject to income conditions. They will be able to request it from December 22. “All you have to do is connect to the chequenergie.gouv.fr site and enter your teleregistrant number and invoice. French people who earn up to 2,260 euros for a single person and up to 4,750 euros for a a couple with two children. The aid will range from 50 to 200 euros,” he said.
In addition, since November 7, an exceptional fuel oil energy check ranging from 100 to 200 euros has begun to be paid to thousands of households. While 3 million people use this type of heating in France, the device concerns the most modest households, i.e. 1.6 million households. This check is sent to households whose annual reference tax income per consumption unit is strictly less than 20,000 euros. The aid was voted in the context of the amending finance law for 2022. How to receive it? “For households already benefiting from the energy check for the year 2022: if you have used your last energy check, you will automatically receive the exceptional fuel oil check in the amount of 200 euros from the end of November”, indicates the site. of the government. For the others, it is necessary to go to the online counter of the Ministry of Energy Transition to request, subject to eligibility, the exceptional fuel cheque.
Set up in 2018 to replace the social tariffs for gas and electricity, the energy check is usually paid once a year, in the spring, to 5.8 million low-income households, up to 148 euros on average. Faced with the crisis, the government added two additional exceptional checks. One of 100 euros in December 2021, the other ranging from 100 to 200 euros at the end of 2022. The latter concerns, this time, nearly 12 million households this time, i.e. 40% of the most modest households – twice as many only for the first check. This aid represents a cost of 1.8 billion euros for the State, said Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, during his redeployment in October.
To benefit from it, it is mandatory to declare your income. And it is the reference tax income for year n-1 that will be taken into account: 2021, therefore, calculated on the basis of 2020 income. For French people whose reference tax income is less than 10,800, the amount of the check will be 200 euros. For the others – and up to 17,400 euros – it will be halved, or 100 euros. The check will be sent automatically provided you are eligible. It takes the form of a secure document with a unique number. It can then be sent to the energy supplier along with an invoice.
To avoid overheating, the government also wants to push the renovation and thermal insulation of housing. In addition to the many aids offered by the system set up with MaPrimeRenov in 2020, the executive realized that some households still did not have the capacity to invest. While the system has made it possible to renovate 1.5 million homes, a zero-rate eco-loan was launched in November for the most modest households. It allows you to combine all the aid offered by MaPrimeRenov, but also by local authorities, and to add this loan to prevent the remainder to be paid after the work is too high.
MaPrimeRénov’ is aimed at all households as well as condominiums and landlords. The amount of the premium is calculated according to the income and the ecological gain of the work. The dwelling must have been built for at least 15 years or for at least two years when replacing an oil-fired boiler. As for the zero-rate eco loan, it is granted without means testing and can go up to 50,000 euros. The system is planned until December 2023. Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne already offered it. But from 2023, other banks will also be able to do so, and in particular Banque Postale, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Mutuel, indicates the newspaper. The echoes.
- Extension of the tariff shield
Already extended until December 2022 for gas, it will be renewed for electricity and gas until 2023, according to an announcement by the executive in September. The tariff shield is included in the finance bill for 2023. Objective: to offset the expected sharp rise in energy prices for households and small businesses, which will be limited to 15% for gas and electricity. The limitation is higher than that of 2022 (which was 4%) but concerns “all households, condominiums, social housing, small businesses and the smallest municipalities”, indicates the government site.
According to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, “these increases (by 15%) will lead to an average increase in bills of around 25 euros per month for households that heat with gas, instead of around 200 euros per month. without a tariff shield; and an average increase of around 20 euros per month for households that heat with electricity, instead of 180 euros per month, without a tariff shield”.