France ends grants for electric radiator thermostats early due to fraud

Grants to help people install programmable central heating thermostats for electric radiators have ended several weeks early due to fears that the system is open to abuse by fraudsters.

Called Coup de pouce Pilotage, the scheme came into effect in December last year and was scheduled to end on  on December 31.

However, the Junior Minister of Energy Olga Givernet says the scheme is now suspended.

“It has become clear that fraudulent practices exist and are jeopardizing the effectiveness of the scheme”, Ms Givernet told TF1 on November 20.

“We are working closely with the industry to step up controls and ensure that the aid gets to where it should, so that consumers are not the ones paying the price,” she said.

The suspension was initially expected to last last until the situation could been “clarified”, however since the scheme was scheduled to end on December 31, the suspension effectively ends it prematurely.

The announcement does not affect the Certificats d'économie d'énergie (CEE) scheme, which enables certain eco-friendly home improvements to be subsidised with aid from energy companies.

Read more: High level of fraud hits French government energy scheme

The amounts that were available under the Coup de pouce Pilotage scheme varied between €260 and €624, depending on the size of the home where the thermostats are installed.

Government experiments have shown that houses with programmable thermostat systems use on average 15% less energy than those without, which is why there are plans to make them compulsory in all houses by 2027.