This Sunday, December 11, the decree setting the terms of eligibility and validity of the exceptional energy check for the year 2022 was published. Automatic dispatch will start from the end of the month, over a period of regarding 8 weeks, to help 12 million households pay their bills.
This decree, which will come into force on Monday, “implements the allocation of an exceptional energy check for 2022 for 12 million households” and “fixes the terms of use and acceptance of the title”.
Distributed since 2018, an energy check is paid once a year in the spring to the six million most modest households, to which is added this exceptional check for 2022 of 100 to 200 euros which will be sent automatically to beneficiaries from the end of the month, affecting a total of 12 million households.
The sending of this exceptional check will be “spread over a period of approximately eight weeks”, specified the Ministry of Energy Transition.
€200 for tax income below €10,800
Compared to the classic energy check, this decree extends the expiry date of the exceptional energy check by an additional year. Energy suppliers “are only required to accept the exceptional energy check in payment until March 31, 2024”, and it “can only be presented for reimbursement until May 31, 2024”, indicates the decree.
The amount of the check is set at “200 euros for households whose annual reference tax income per consumption unit is less than 10,800 euros” and at “100 euros for households whose annual reference tax income per consumption unit is greater than or equal to 10,800 euros and less than 17,400 euros”, specifies the same text.
On September 14, the government announced the payment of these exceptional checks in the context of rising energy prices. To preserve household purchasing power, the government has limited the increase in regulated electricity and gas sale prices to 15% in 2023. In the absence of this price shield measure, the increase should have been 120%, underlines Bercy.
In addition, and also subject to resources, a fuel check of 100 to 200 euros and aid of 50 to 200 euros for those heating with wood were also announced at the end of 2022.