Millions of French people are affected by this considerable increase, which will be applied from July 1, 2024. Which will skyrocket.
Bad news for millions of French people who will still have to pay more. From July 1, this bill will see a considerable increase of 11.7% compared to the month of June, announced the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) in a press release dated June 10. It will in fact be necessary to count on average 129.20 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) including tax, compared to 115.70 euros/MWh in June for the price of gas.
Nevertheless, “even if this price is up by 13.50 euros compared to the month of June, it remains lower by 4.70 euros/MWh including tax“, which was the average price on January 1, 2024, a drop of 3.5% since the start of the year, qualifies the CRE. Concretely, the annual bill including tax for an average consumer will amount to 1,184 euros, compared to 1,127 euros on January conditions.
But then, how can we explain this increase in July? The Energy Regulatory Commission recalls that since June 30, 2023, regulated gas sales prices have been eliminated. Instead, the CRE introduced the Gas Sales Reference Price (PRGV) to help consumers compare offers from different suppliers. This price is updated monthly and includes a subscription and a price per kilowatt hour, reflecting the costs of purchase, storage, delivery, and supplier margins.
The 11.7% increase in the PRGV in July is mainly due to the revaluation of tariffs for the use of natural gas distribution networks, increasing by 27.5% on average on July 1. According to CRE calculations, bills should have increased by around 5.5% for customers using gas for heating and by 10.4% for those using it for hot water and/or cooking. But this increase will ultimately be higher since we must also take into account “the increase, noted in recent weeks, in natural gas prices on the wholesale markets, and the slight increase in the Energy Saving Certificates component (EEC) between July 2023 and July 2024,” specifies the Commission.