The Senate alerts Pompili on the impact of soaring energy prices on households and businesses

The commission believes that the "tariff shield" is late is limited.

• The allocation of 100 euros via the "energy check" or the "inflation allowance" is derisory, the prices at the pump exceeding 1,5 euros per liter. These 100 euros are the equivalent of a full tank, not a solution to spend the winter!
• The regulated sales tariffs, on which the blockages or price compensations are focused, only concern 7,5% of national gas consumption and 28% of electricity consumption. Most consumers are therefore subject to market fluctuations!
• Faced with the 34% increase in energy supply to the industrial sector, energy-intensive companies only have an advance of € 150 million. That's six times lower than their needs!
• Reductions in internal taxes on energy consumption are optional, activatable by decree, and transitory, limited to one year. Worse, the reduction in gas taxes only concerns households, unlike that on electricity, which also targets businesses ...

In this very degraded context, the committee notes several anomalies.

• The National Energy Mediator (MNE) no longer has sufficient staff to resolve disputes between consumers and suppliers within the regulatory deadlines, its referrals having increased by 15% in six months ...
• The emergency or last resort suppliers, provided for two years by the “Energy-Climate” law, were only very recently designated for electricity and are still expected for gas, while some suppliers have already stopped their operations. activities, such as E. Leclerc Énergies and its 140 electricity subscribers!
• No regulatory measures, nor any budgetary appropriations, have been specifically announced to guarantee our security of supply this winter, while the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) has placed France in a situation of "special vigilance" in early 2022.

Convinced of the interest of nuclear energy, to guarantee the French inexpensive and low-emission energy, the committee regrets that the recovery plan only devotes 0,18% of credits to it and the investment plan 3%. This is why it calls on the Government to give a strong budgetary translation to the recent announcements in the direction of nuclear energy and hydrogen. The “Energy” credits of these plans must constitute the lever of new nuclear power, by promoting, alongside the design of SMRs, the improvement of EPRs, the development of 4th generation reactors and research in favor of the “closure of the nuclear power plant. fuel cycle ”.

The committee will ensure this, as part of its monitoring work on the development prospects of the French nuclear energy and hydrogen sector.

For Daniel Gremillet, rapporteur on “Energy” credits: “I regret that the Government waited until the start of winter to announce the“ tariff shield ”: if it is useful, it is nonetheless late and limited. While France is the first country in terms of energy taxation, with 47 billion euros, I see that it has not chosen the path of a massive reduction in this tax, unlike Spain or the United States. 'Germany ".

For Sophie Primas, president of the commission: “It is a pity that the Government waited six months before the end of the five-year term to envisage a 'return to favor' of nuclear energy; today we want him to move from announcements to decisions. However, the “stimulus” and “investment” plans do not give nuclear energy the attention it deserves. This is detrimental to the decarbonisation of our economy, but also to the purchasing power of our fellow citizens and to the competitiveness of our companies ”.