Energy poverty: a transpartisan bill to better protect households

On the occasion of the day against energy poverty, Mireille Clapot (Renaissance) and other parliamentarians at the initiative of the text (Renaissance and related, MoDem, Liot and PS) presented the main measures during a conference press conference at the National Assembly.

In a context of soaring energy prices and the gradual extinction of the price shields put in place in the fall of 2021, they are calling for a ban on electricity cuts to individuals for unpaid bills, and thus the guarantee of a minimum supply of electricity all year round, as is already the case for water.

These cuts, 157.000 carried out in 2022, are today only prohibited during the winter break.

“Electricity is a basic necessity,” argued the MP for Drôme, recalling that a third of French households nowadays have difficulty paying their bills, according to the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.

“Fragile” homes could then only be subject to a power reduction (as practiced by EDF since April 2023), up to 1 kVA, sufficient to turn on a light bulb, recharge your phone, keep food in the refrigerator or carry out administrative procedures.

Enough to “ensure a minimum of dignity for households”, according to Maïder Olivier, advocacy officer at the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, present at the conference.

Since the start of the energy crisis, MEPs have also regretted that many households have been "poorly informed" about the surge in their energy bills. Often, the price list annexed to the contract is unintelligible to the uninformed, indicates the bill.

“Certain suppliers abuse the technicality of contracts and thus take advantage of the credulity of consumers,” denounced Ms. Clapot.

Aligned with the recommendations of the Energy Mediator in October, the twenty MPs who signed the text want “more readable” invoices to now be issued to consumers.

In addition, the latter should be notified at least three months in advance in the event of changes in prices, compared to one month today, so that they can give their agreement, or decide to change supplier.

MEPs also want to ban energy offers indexed to market prices, which do not allow the customer to know the price of the energy they consume at any time.

The bill must be tabled in the coming days.

In the countryside, energy poverty is less visible but just as harsh

“Morally, it takes a toll.” In his small, decrepit house in the Oise, Jérôme Aubier does not have the means to heat himself properly. He suffers from energy poverty, also present in rural areas where it is, moreover, more difficult to spot.

To heat his house in Montmacq, a small village about ten kilometers from Compiègne, this 59-year-old former wood merchant uses a wood stove placed in his kitchen.

But the wood costs him 1.500 euros per year, difficult to bear for him who can no longer work for health reasons and only receives compensation of 970 euros per month for disabled people.

And for good reason: the house he owns, which he has lived in alone since his divorce and the departure of his children, is an energetic sieve.

The windows are single-glazed, the roof is damaged and the walls are poorly insulated.

He only turns on his hot water tank once every two or three days, to save money, and showers at a neighbor's house.

“It’s a cost, physically it’s a cost and morally it’s a cost. In my head, constantly, it’s: I must not forget the fire,” he says.

"Change the life"

To improve his situation, he is supported by the Eco Habitat Network, an NGO specializing in helping people in difficulty with energy renovation.

The volunteer, Claude Vervel, helps him set up files to obtain public aid, including MaPrimeRénov', and to contact craftsmen to do the necessary work: roofing, walls, windows, etc.

He also hopes to obtain a microcredit to finance the remaining expenses.

“Once the work is done, it will really change my life! I am relieved to know that in six, seven months, I will be able to live properly,” confides Jérôme Aubier.

Rural residents are not spared from fuel poverty, a situation involving households among the poorest 30% who are cold in their homes or give up on heating properly due to lack of money.

The data to quantify the phenomenon is fragmentary.

The last exhaustive INSEE survey on housing dates back to 2013 - the next one is planned for 2024.

It revealed that French people living in rural areas were less likely to be cold at home but more likely to spend too much money on heating.

An Ifop survey published on Wednesday seems to corroborate this observation: 54% of the 1.000 rural French people questioned by the institute said they had already given up heating due to lack of money, compared to 42% of all French people.

"They're hiding"

For associations, the main difficulty in rural areas is finding the households that need it.

These may be people who lived with their parents and inherited the house, or find themselves, after a separation, in a house that is too big and expensive to maintain.

“They stay because they cannot do otherwise, the house deteriorates and we fall into the energy sieve,” explains Claude Vervel, from the Eco Habitat Network.

“The poor owners hide,” he testifies. “Being an owner and poor is an antagonism!” explains the man who is also a volunteer at Restos du coeur, and who, to find households in need of help, goes through the list of Restos beneficiaries and looks for those who are owners of their homes.

“You less often have a local elected official, a technician, an energy agency, who passes by your house or home to notice that it is in poor condition,” also notes Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Abbé Foundation Rock.

“If you live in an old house, an old farm, in a rural area, no one is going to notice it except you and so it’s all on you,” he says.

“When we talk about single, elderly people, not particularly socially or medically supported, to embark on a renovation of this type, we can remain in energy poverty for years.”

The latest reform of the MaPrimeRénov' system announced by the government is likely to further help the households concerned: the maximum amount of aid has been increased to encourage heavy but efficient work.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.