Without “shield”, the price of gas would be twice as high in France, according to the regulator

Natural gas consumers in France benefiting from regulated tariffs from Engie (formerly GDF Suez) will continue to pay the same price on September 1 as last year, the Energy Regulatory Commission confirmed on Tuesday, according to which, without state protection, the gas would be 105.1% more expensive than on October 1, 2021.

When it was created by the previous government on October 1, 2021, the “tariff shieldwhich froze the applicable scales for regulated gas sales tariffs (TRV) aimed to spare French consumers an expected 19.5% increase in natural gas prices in November 2021, and the same level in December 2021. The government expected gas prices to fall at the end of winter.

More targeted aid for 2023

However, prices have not stopped soaring this year on the European markets, especially since the beginning of the war in UkraineFebruary 24 and the gradual drying up of Russian gas exports to Europe. “The average level of regulated sales prices on September 1, 2022 would have been 116.5% higher excluding taxes, i.e. 105.10% including tax, compared to the level in force set on October 1, 2021“, specifies the CRE in its press release issued Tuesday evening, announcing that the tariffs will remain “frozen on September 1, 2022, at their level on October 1, 2021“. For 2023, the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said in July that the tariff shield, which today also concerns electricity, could be replaced by more targeted aid for low-income French people. The government has yet to unveil its plan.

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