- While the government must disclose the amount of the increase in electricity prices, an LFI deputy condemned the person responsible for this increase, the European energy market, in his opinion.
- If many members of the opposition had already pointed the finger at this mechanism at the height of the increase in electricity prices in the wholesale markets in 2022, the person responsible for this increase announced in February is to be found this time. tax
- The government actually plans to raise taxes that were set at the lowest level as part of the “tariff shield”.
Bruno Le Maire has promised that the increase will not exceed 10%. In February, electricity bills for households are expected to rise, while prices in wholesale markets will fall. What is the reason for this contradiction? For LFI MP Hadrian Clout, the culprit is to be found in the European energy market, he explained on social network X on Sunday.
Fake off
The increase, the exact percentage of which has not yet been disclosed by the government, is not due to this European system condemned by the elected official, but to an increase in taxes. In the Finance Bill for 2024, the government has in fact provided for the possibility of increasing the fractional amount collected on electricity (FPE), newly named TIFCE (Internal Final Consumption Tax on Electricity). In 2022, the government reduced this tax to one euro per megawatt hour, part of a tariff shield intended to protect households from electricity price increases that were then current in wholesale markets. This tax was previously around 26 euros per megawatt hour.
“Whatever it takes” came to an end for the government, so it introduced the possibility of a tax hike in the 2024 Finance Act. However, there is no question of a return to pre-fiscal shield levels, defended the budget minister, Thomas Cazeneuve, in November, who was concerned about increases that would be too high for households if that were the case.
So the increase will be a maximum of 10%, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has promised on several occasions, an announcement he renewed this Monday. The exact increase, however, has not yet been announced: the Energy Regulatory Commission was to hear “stakeholders” in the calculation of electricity prices this Monday, its president, Emmanuel Worgan, recalled on Friday. capital city. “We will then send the tariff proposal to the new government, which will decide whether to raise taxes and therefore whether to raise tariffs. »
At the height of the rise in wholesale electricity prices, many opposition figures, such as MP Hadrien Clouet, called for an exit or adjustment from the European energy market. A path that may not be a miracle solution to high bills, experts then explained 20 minutes.
