The Court of Auditors has just issued a report on the deployment of Linky meters. And, surprise, the results are very mixed when it comes to benefits for consumers…
Electricity prices continue to rise at an astonishing speed, with more than 25% increase in one year, since the scheduled end of the tariff shield and new price increases in 2024. Obviously, the Linky meter – the meter intelligent electricity from Enedis, the manager of the electricity distribution network in France, which transmits and receives data remotely – focuses all attention. Deployed from 2015 and become mandatory, it now equips 95% of French homes, despite strong resistance and the numerous criticisms and conspiracy theories that its forced deployment has led to – it has been suspected, among other things, of producing electromagnetic waves harmful to health or to collect personal data used by the State.
But the Linky meter is not without its flaws! An alarming report from the National Energy Ombudsman accused Enedis, last May, of overcharging households equipped with a Linky smart meter, through several practices “particularly objectionable” (see our article). This time, the device was the subject ofa detailed report from the Court of Auditors. And the conclusions are not so positive for consumers, on the contrary…
Linky meter: considerable gains for Enedis
The Court of Auditors begins with good news: the installation costs of Linky meters were ultimately lower than expected. Indeed, although it had initially been estimated at more than 5 billion euros, the project ultimately only cost 4.6 billion euros, a saving of 18%. This reduction in expenses is certainly good news for the energy sector as well as for individuals, who finance the deployment of the system.
This had three objectives: to enable better control of energy demand, facilitate the opening of the electricity market to competition, and improve the operation of the network while lowering costs. On this last point, the bet is raised! Enedis quickly felt the benefits since it was able to reduce its energy costs, thanks to its management and its generalization. The supplier actually makes significant savings, thanks in particular to remote backup, which avoids the need for an agent to travel. The report points to additional remuneration of 311 million euros for the period 2016-2023, as well as a bonus of 407 million euros between 2016 and 2022 under incentive regulation.
On the fraud side, however, the deployment of Linky did not make it possible to reduce this practice as well as its economic losses, as was hoped. This even increased from mid-2023 in several European countries, probably linked to the significant increase in energy prices. But, even if it does not prevent fraud, the device still facilitates detection. Thanks to the communicating system, 150,000 meters that had been the subject of fraudulent intervention were almost certainly identified. The conclusion is therefore overall rather positive for the electricity distribution network manager. But then, what about the consumer side?
Linky meter: a project that costs consumers dearly
In its report, the Court of Auditors underlines that the expected benefits for users do not live up to the initial promises, whether in terms of energy efficiency or improvement of commercial offers. Indeed, at the launch of the program, consumers were promised that the benefits observed on Enedis’ activity would be returned to them, in the form of better service, simplification of connections and lower bills. . So, of course, they were able to derive certain advantages, such as the reduction in costs of small interventions that have become teleoperable, but that’s about it.
Smart meters were thus supposed to improve information for individuals on their consumption and the prices applied, in order to encourage them to save energy or, at least, to shift their electricity consumption as much as possible to the time slots where the electricity is the cheapest for them and which correspond to times when the situation on the network is least tense. However, the results regarding this better control of demand are lower than expected.
Furthermore, the Court of Auditors is also not satisfied with the commercial innovations supposed to arise with the deployment of Linky. If meters allow a better understanding of consumption, thanks to detailed invoices, they clearly do not stimulate competition in the energy market.
However, this should allow the appearance of more sophisticated tariff ranges than standard modulations such as peak hours/off-peak hours (HP/HC). But “very few suppliers use Linky’s innovative features such as the ten indexes available to suppliers or the mobile peak functionality which makes it possible to send price signals much finer than the classic HP/HC and potentially much closer to real time “regrets the Court.
The Court of Auditors nevertheless recalls that other factors may have contributed to these disappointing results, starting with the energy crisis which pushed consumers to favor fixed price electricity supply offers, which are more reassuring. in this context of instability. But this conclusion is all the more problematic as the price of the bill for the installation of Linky meters was reflected in users’ bills. In fact, this charge results in a very significant increase in the tariff for using public electricity networks (TURPE), which represents around a third of the household electricity bill. An increase of 10% should also occur from February. Result: the French thus find themselves financing a project whose concrete benefits they do not yet see, and against which the majority of them were opposed. The report therefore warns about the fairness of the sharing of the resources obtained, because the gains are significant for Enedis, but not for consumers.
Linky meter: a mixed environmental impact
One of the arguments put forward in favor of the Linky project was its environmental impact, since it should allow users to reduce their electricity consumption. However, the massive replacement of old meters has generated a significant amount of electronic waste, and some containing toxic components require special treatment. In addition, the manufacture of the new meters required the use of significant resources, in particular rare metals and electronic components, the extraction of which is particularly polluting.
Also, for the Court of Auditors, the overall ecological balance of the project remains to be demonstrated, particularly with regard to the limited lifespan of Linky meters, which is estimated at 15-20 years, compared to 60 years for old electromechanical meters. This therefore means more electronic waste and more pollution when their replacements are produced…