French energy firms offer up to €120 discount to those who cut usage

Two French energy companies will be offering their customers up to €120 off their bills in the spring if they reduce their consumption this winter.

TotalEnergies and Engie have responded to a request from the French government, which asked the suppliers to help reduce overall energy usage and thus diminish the risk of shortages and potential power cuts over the winter.

Read more: France to offer cheap electricity to those who cut usage during peaks

Engie

Between October and April, Engie customers will be given daily challenges at times when the network is under pressure, encouraging them to cut their usage by x% in comparison to the amount they consumed on the same day over the three preceding weeks.

Every time that they achieve the goal, they will be awarded a bonus in euros – expected to range between €5 and €10 – which they will be able to view in their personal account on the particuliers.engie.fr website.

These sums of money will accumulate over the winter and eventually be paid to the individual by bank transfer or cheque at the beginning of spring.

The challenges and the bonuses available will evolve over the course of the winter so that Engie can work out the most effective combinations.

Interested customers will need to sign up to the scheme and give Engie permission to view their daily consumption figures.

An Engie spokesperson told The Connexion that eligible customers - those who have a Linky meter - will be contacted in early October before the scheme begins later in the month. They will then be able to participate through a 'Mon Bonus Engie' page on the website.

Customers have also been asked to make small changes, like turning their central heating down to 19C.

TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies customers will be offered between €30 and €120 off their bills in the spring depending on how much they manage to cut their consumption now.

The minimum reduction rewarded with a financial incentive will be 5%.

This initiative will be called ‘Bonus Conso’, and will run from November 1 until March 31, with the resulting discounts applied to bills from April.

In order to calculate the bonus due to each customer, TotalEnergies will compare their usage between November 2021 and March 2022 with their usage this winter.

A reduction of 5% will result in a €30 bonus, 6% will give €36 and so on. Customers who achieve a 20% cut will receive the full €120.

Because of the way in which the rewards are calculated, customers will only be able to take part if they have been with TotalEnergies since at least November 2021. They must also have a Linky meter.

Some three million households will be eligible for the scheme.

TotalEnergies has also announced that it will be investing $1billion in developing renewable energy sources, thanks to its “very solid” profits for 2022.

EDF has for several years offered contracts which involve the possibility of saving money by cutting consumption on certain days, through its Tempo scheme.

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