Threat of Russian gas supply cut, budget bill and new amounts of financial aid allocated to energy renovation work and renewable energies, announcements on the climate strategy for the next five-year period, sobriety plan, new postponement of the energy audit of housing put up for sale, ban on increasing rents for thermal sieves...
Hellio, a key player in energy management, takes stock of the many challenges of the start of the school year.
Compulsory energy audit in the event of the sale of a thermal sieve: a new postponement to April 1, 2023
Initially planned by the Climate and Resilience Law for January 1, 2022, then postponed for the first time to September 1, 2022, the mandatory energy audit of single-property houses and apartments classified F or G in the Energy Performance Diagnosis will be subject to of a new postponement by decree. It will become mandatory for all sales on April 1, 2023.
Hellio reaction:
Defended by most federations in the real estate sector, the postponement of the energy audit is explained by the lack of training and preparation of the professionals responsible for carrying out the audits, which could lead to a failure in the results and oblige carrying out renovations unsuited to the real problems of housing.
Indeed, the reliability of the audits is essential since they aim to determine the sale price and inform the future buyer of the property about the energy renovation work to be undertaken as well as the costs to be incurred[1]”.
[1] This concerns DPEs carried out from January 1, 2018. If the DPE dates from before this date, it must be redone.
Thermal colanders: the blocking of rents since August 24, 2022 for housing classified F or G at the DPE
According to the law of August 22, 2021[2] on the fight against climate change and the strengthening of resilience to its effects, the rents of housing classified F and G at the DPE, qualified as “energy sieves”, can no longer be be increased since August 24, 2022. This measure concerns new rental contracts and contracts in progress, renewed or tacitly renewed, for which no increase can be applied.
[2] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000046131733
Financial aid for energy saving work: towards an increase in budgets?
Next finance law 2023: towards an overhaul of MaPrimeRénov' and an increased budget?
As a reminder, the finance bill passed in the last quarter by Parliament aims to determine each year all of the State's revenue and expenditure for the following year. This bill contains the amount, the nature and the allocation of the resources and the expenses of the State, it is presented each year in the autumn by the Government.
It should be included in the finance bill for 2023:
- The level of the budget for MaPrimeRénov', MaPrimeRénov'Sérénité, the energy check if renewed, etc. As well as that of other aids dedicated to energy savings;
- The level of budget and human resources dedicated to the competent administrations in terms of energy transition: Ademe, Anah, France urbaine, etc.
Hellio reaction:
"In order to achieve the Government's objectives in terms of the energy renovation of buildings and to drastically reduce their energy consumption, in addition to increasing the budget dedicated to MaPrimeRénov', it would be appropriate to prioritize funding dedicated to work packages and high-performance renovations in order to guarantee the efficiency of the operation. Hellio also underlines the importance of reinforcing certain staff of State agencies essential to the distribution of this aid. »
An increase in the amounts of energy bonuses paid for energy saving work
As part of the sobriety plan and the objective of reducing energy consumption by 40% by 2050, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, announced a strengthening of the system for Energy Savings Certificates (CEE). The first financial aid dedicated to energy savings in France, it is estimated today at nearly 5 billion euros per year paid in the form of work bonuses by energy companies (heating, wall insulation, etc.).
EEC works aid scheme: an increase in the target planned for September for more than 1,5 billion euros in energy premiums per year
A draft decree thus provides for an increase in the objective of more than 25%, corresponding to approximately 1,5 billion euros per additional year paid in the form of bonuses for work, carried out mainly for households in precarious situations. [3].
Finally, in order to better regulate the market price resulting from the ESC system, the Ministry of Energy Transition will launch, from September 2022, a consultation with the actors of energy renovation.
Extension of the Boost energy bonus Heating of collective residential buildings:
The decree of July 12, 2022[4] provides for an extension of the existing Help for Heating aid to collective housing financed by the CEE scheme for all work to replace heating with renewable energy equipment in collective housing – boiler biomass, collective heat pump and especially connection to heating networks – for all works signed on September 1, 2022.
Hellio is one of the signatories of the commitment charter Coup de Pouce Heating of residential and collective tertiary buildings.
[3] https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/agnes-pannier-runacher-annonce-renforcement-des-dispositifs-soutien-aux-projets-defficacite
[4] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000046131733
Example: When connecting a commercial building to a heating network, two technical criteria must be met:
- The building was never connected to a heating network before the operation was carried out;
- The heating network is supplied mainly by renewable or recuperated energies.
In this case, the amount of the CEE premium for a 100m² building is €49.500.
The implementation of the energy sobriety plan from the start of the school year to face the threat of a winter without Russian gas
In order to deal with the threat of a disruption of gas supplies in Europe, the European Commission urgently presented, on July 20, 2022, a plan to reduce gas consumption by 15% in the European Union. At the national level, the government has implemented a sobriety plan aimed at reducing France's dependence on imports of Russian gas - even if these represent only 17% -, promoting energy savings and accelerating deployment. renewable energies.
Among the measures taken:
- Reduce energy consumption by 10% within two years, compared to 2019;
- Enforce the rules already in force, in particular compliance with temperature instructions: 19°C maximum for heating and 26°C for air conditioning.
- Execute the section of the sobriety plan dedicated to large commercial areas from October 15, 2022: extinction of illuminated signs and reduction of lighting in sales areas...
Launch of the five-year consultation on the Government's Energy and Climate strategy
On July 6, 2022, Elisabeth Borne announced, during her general policy speech to the National Assembly, the launch of a broad consultation from September with a view to preparing the energy-climate orientation law.
This consultation is part of the development of the five-year programming law on energy and climate, scheduled for 2023, and which will set the priorities for action of the national climate and energy policy, taking into account the objectives of the European climate plan.
Hellio reaction:
"This orientation law will make it possible to give visibility to professionals in the energy efficiency sector to invest, train and anticipate: Hellio calls for this legislation to set a volume of financial aid dedicated to energy renovation on 5 years. »
MonAccompagnateurRénov': terms still to be specified before its extension to January 1, 2023
The MonAccompagnateurRénov' decree was published on July 23, 2022 in the Official Journal[5] and makes compulsory, from January 1, 2023, support by the MonAccompagnateurRénov' organization for energy renovation work benefiting from aid from the Anah conditioned to an improvement in the overall energy performance of housing.
The decree has already specified the content of the support mission. The necessary conditions of independence of the guide with regard to the execution of the work as well as the possibilities of subcontracting will be detailed in a forthcoming order.
[5] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000046081405
Bill on renewable energies: a presentation to the Council of Ministers scheduled for September
The bill on renewable energies aims to allow the acceleration of the installation of renewable energies on the territory. According to Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister for Energy Transition, the text is built around three issues: the acceleration of procedures, the release of land and planning[6].
This future law is in line with the European RepowerEU plan. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic, had announced, in the traditional interview of July 14, 2022, the presence of measures relating to the acceleration of the deployment of heat pumps and photovoltaics within the framework of this bill[7].
[6] http://videos.senat.fr/video.2967284_62df191b6eb96.audition-de-mme-agnes-pannier-runacher-ministre-de-la-transition-energetique?timecode=7691000
[7] REPLAY – Interview with Emmanuel Macron: “France must continue to invest in its army”: https://youtu.be/w6g054tLxgQ
Europe: The Czech Republic takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The French Presidency of the European Union (PFUE) ended on June 30, 2022 and the Czech Republic took over this rotating presidency on July 1.
Shaken by the conflict on Ukrainian territory, the PFUE was marked by a real awareness of the challenges of energy sobriety since Russia has engaged in an energy conflict, threatening the European Union with cutting off its gas supplies.
On the political agenda of the Czech presidency are priorities centered on Ukraine and on the preservation of the Union's energy security, by freeing itself from dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
The energy efficiency (EED) and energy performance of buildings (DPEB) directives should be adopted during this presidency.
Revisions to these guidelines include:
- Raising the objectives of reducing primary and final energy consumption to 39% and 36% by 2030 for the DEE;
- The implementation of a strategy for a wave of renovation multiplying by at least two the annual rate of energy renovation by 2030 within the framework of the EPBD.