Engie and EDF compete on the RE2020

"Electrification is an important vector for the decarbonisation of our economy, but it cannot be the only one. The all-electric model is doomed to failure," Jean-Pierre Clamadieu told Le Monde, in his edition Tuesday.

The government published in early November the new construction standards for new buildings, known as "RE 2020", which must come into force in the summer of 2021 and provide in particular for a gradual ban on gas, for environmental reasons.

According to Mr. Clamadieu, this will lead to the return of energy-consuming electric convectors (nicknamed "toasters"): "It is a very inefficient way of using energy. The downside of the + toaster + is is that it consumes a lot. In reality, this will lead to an increase in household bills, "he says.

In addition, "we are already not completely reassured about our ability to get through the winter. If the heating was even more massively electric, it would be even more difficult," he adds.

EDF's response was quick, which deplores, since the government announcement, "a barrage on the part of certain players with fallacious arguments".

"It is not the convectors - qualified without nuance of + toaster + whereas this does not correspond to the reality of the offer of the manufacturers today - which will benefit from this decision, but the industry and the craftsmen of the heat pump, a sector that provides a great deal of employment, "said Marc Benayoun, director of EDF in charge of the Services and Territories Pole.

According to him, "taking into account the low consumption of a heat pump, of which only a third comes from the electricity sector" and "continuous efforts of insulation", "one can even anticipate that the consumption of electricity under the heating will be stable or declining ".

The RE2020 project still needs to be consulted.