In 20 years, local authorities have reduced their energy consumption by 20%

To mark the 20th anniversary of its multi-energy and multi-fluid consumption monitoring software DeltaConso Expert, Akéa Énergies looks back on two decades of energy practices through the analysis of more than 15 million water and energy bills, 205.000 delivery points and nearly 70.000 monitored sites in France.

A historical presence that gives the software a privileged observatory position, whose data reveals both progress and challenges:

• Between 2006 and 2025, the consumption of public buildings has decreased by approximately 20%, due to renovation operations, the modernization of equipment and the energy efficiency measures of local authorities.
• Only 30% of communities using DeltaConso Expert are currently aligned with the objectives of the Tertiary Decree[1] by 2030.
• More than 80% of the industrial customers monitored exceed the energy consumption thresholds set by the so-called “DDADUE” law[2] of April 30, 2025. They are therefore subject to the new obligations for energy audits and energy management.

According to Augustin Bouet-Mouttet, CEO of Akéa Énergies: “The data we have been analyzing for twenty years offers a unique perspective on the evolution of energy practices in France. It shows the progress made by local authorities and businesses to better manage their consumption, but also the scale of the challenges that remain in the face of decarbonization requirements and new regulatory obligations. Over the years, energy has become a strategic issue that goes far beyond the question of costs alone, encompassing the fight against climate change, business competitiveness, energy sovereignty, and the overall performance of organizations. With DeltaConso Expert, our ambition is to continue supporting this transformation by placing data at the heart of the decision-making process, and then, in the future, by developing increasingly intelligent and predictive tools to help our clients anticipate, manage, and accelerate their energy transition.”

Twenty years of evolving energy practices: how energy became a strategic issue

When the DeltaConso Expert software project was launched in 2005, energy monitoring was still primarily considered a budget control tool. Consumption was analyzed based on bills, and energy performance issues remained relatively limited in the asset management strategies of local authorities and businesses.

Twenty years later, the landscape has changed dramatically. The sustained rise in energy prices, the strengthening of regulatory constraints and decarbonization objectives have gradually transformed energy management into a strategic lever.

Monitoring consumption is no longer just about controlling expenses: it now allows us to manage investments, detect deviations, prioritize the energy improvement strategy for sites and their equipment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet increasingly demanding regulatory obligations.

A decrease of approximately 20% in the energy consumption of monitored public buildings between 2006 and 2025

Through the data collected by the software over the past two decades, the consulting firm Akéa Énergies has directly observed this transformation. Today, DeltaConso Expert monitors more than 205.000 delivery points (mostly electricity, gas, or water meters, but also tracking the consumption of vehicle fleets or other consumption specific to certain industries) representing nearly 70.000 sites throughout France and has enabled the analysis of more than 15 million energy and water bills.

These data reveal in particular a decrease of approximately 20% in the energy consumption of the public buildings monitored between 2006 and 2025, reflecting the efforts undertaken by local authorities in terms of energy control, including the energy renovation of buildings, the modernization of equipment and the optimization of their uses.

However, the challenges remain significant. While the Tertiary Decree requires tertiary buildings of more than 1000 m² to reduce their energy consumption by 40% – in relative values ​​– by 2030, only 30% of the communities supported by Akéa Énergies are currently achieving this objective.

The study on the energy balance of school buildings carried out by Akéa Énergies between 2018 and 2023 demonstrates that four main types of structures concentrate nearly 70% of the energy consumed by municipalities: school buildings (29,4%), sports facilities (16,7%), administrative buildings (16,4%) and cultural or leisure infrastructure (10%).

As the largest energy expenditure item for municipalities (excluding street lighting), schools represent one of the main levers for action to sustainably reduce local energy costs. However, the study demonstrates that, at the same time, these establishments have an average final energy performance of 81 kWh per m², a level in line with the 2030 targets of the Tertiary Sector Decree (93 kWh/m² on average nationally).

Energy efficiency is essential for private and industrial service sector players.

While DeltaConso Expert was historically developed to meet the needs of local authorities, the software now also supports private sector players in the service and industrial sectors, who represent a rapidly growing share of its clientele. This evolution reflects, in particular, the requirements of the BACS (Building Automation and Control System) and Tertiary decrees for 2030, 2040, and 2050, as well as the entry into force of new regulatory requirements for the most energy-intensive companies.

Indeed, these regulations, which now concern a growing number of actors, call on them to structure the monitoring and management of their consumption more precisely, as well as to optimize their uses.

According to data monitored by Akéa Énergies, more than 80% of the industrial clients they support now exceed the energy consumption thresholds defined by the so-called “DDADUE” law of April 30, 2025. This situation exposes them to new obligations regarding energy audits or the deployment of energy management systems.

Developed by Akéa Énergies, a design office specializing in energy management and decarbonization solutions, the DeltaConso Expert software supports this evolution through the monitoring of multi-energy and multi-fluid consumption on tertiary, public and private, and industrial assets.

Energy intelligence, the next step in managing consumption

Having supported the transformation of energy practices over the past twenty years, DeltaConso Expert is now preparing for the next stage: that of energy intelligence.

The launch of version 3 of the platform in 2024 marked an important milestone with new analytical capabilities designed to simplify the use of energy data.

Future developments will focus in particular on the integration of artificial intelligence features designed to automate certain analyses, detect consumption anomalies more quickly and facilitate data interpretation.

In the longer term, energy management tools should evolve towards increasingly predictive approaches, capable of anticipating consumption deviations, supporting the management of technical equipment, prioritizing investments and integrating new challenges related to energy flexibility and smart grids.

[1] Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 relating to obligations for actions to reduce final energy consumption in buildings used for tertiary activities

[2] Law No. 2025-391 of 30 April 2025 containing various provisions adapting French law to European Union law in economic, financial, environmental, energy, transport, health and movement of persons matters

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.