Why are gas tariffs so high in France and will this last?
One householder has reported an annual gas bill rise of €650
Around 10.5 million households in France use gas as their main source of energy
Kamil Zajaczkowski/Shutterstock
Gas prices in France are high and rising, with some households that heat their homes with gas reporting increases of hundreds of euros a year.
One man told FranceInfo that the gas bill to heat his 180m2 family home is set to rise by €650 this year, with the price rising by 5.9% in the past month alone.
Read also: Gas bills rise in France: compare energy providers
Why are gas prices rising?
Gas prices in France are overseen by gas distribution network la Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE). However, market forces can also affect costs, including most recently:
Weather: The cold temperatures in recent weeks have drained the country’s stocks, reducing supply while also spiking demand, as people turn up the heat in their homes.
Low reserves: French sites are 45% full, compared with 66.8% at the same time last year.
Sourcing issues: After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU reduced its purchases of gas from Russia and on January 1 this year, Ukraine cut off the Russian gas pipe running through its territory towards Europe, further reducing imports.
The EU is now sourcing a quarter (the largest single percentage) of its gas supplies from the US, which is transported by ship. This is more expensive and more sensitive to competition and market changes.
“The ship can change its delivery port depending on the price. So in Europe, we’re finding ourselves in competition with - for example - Asia, which also needs gas, so they can say to this or that boat, I’m going to buy it for more, so don’t go to [France], go to Japan,” said Julien Tchernia, CEO of green energy supplier Ekwateur, to FranceInfo.
“With gas by pipe, this can’t happen, because the pipe is there, so the gas is delivered, and there is a price balancing that makes it lower, in general.”
