The Minister of the Economy announced that the price of electricity in France might increase by up to 40% by February, judging that the situation in Kazakhstan is “quite revealing.[rice] regarding what can happen when energy prices explode ”.
According to Bruno Le Maire, France might experience a 40% increase in the price of electricity by February.
A “dangerous” situation for the Minister of the Economy and Finance, who calls for considering the troubles that such a rise in the price of energy have resulted in recent days in Kazakhstan.
On January 7, Bruno Le Maire spoke regarding the situation in these terms: “Look at what is happening in Kazakhstan, it is quite revealing of what can happen when energy prices explode, it is politically dangerous […] If we do not find a solution to the prices of electricity in the coming days, the French will see an increase at the end of January. [de ceux-ci] from 35 to 40% ”.
This call comes once morest a backdrop of soaring global energy prices. For example, at the start of the first week of January, the price of gas at the Dutch hub TTF – a European benchmark for natural gas trading – rose by around 5%, reaching 93.30 euros per megawatt hour.
The government is looking for solutions to ensure that the increase in energy prices is limited to 4%
On September 30, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the establishment of a “tariff shield”, to “protect [les Français] once morest these price increases ”. The government had notably planned to block the regulated price of gas, which concerns five million French people, until the spring, or to reduce the amount of taxes on electricity – the price of which is due to increase by around 12% in February 2022. – to limit consumers’ bills to 4%.
A device which nevertheless seems no longer sufficient: “Thousands of jobs are at stake. This is why we have been working day and night for two weeks to find a solution which guarantees the ceiling of 4% of electricity prices and protects companies that consume large amounts of electricity ”, declared Bruno Le Maire.
The minister also indicated that he had met with the CEO of EDF, Jean-Bernard Lévy, and the European competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, while the French government will increase the volume of nuclear electricity that EDF has an obligation to sell to its competitors at a discounted price, as pointed out The Parisian.
In Kazakhstan, the protest movement was sparked by a rise in the prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG). On the evening of January 4, the authorities conceded a reduction in the price of LNG by setting it at 50 tenges (0.1 euro) per liter in the region, once morest 120 at the start of the year, according to President Kassym- Jomart Tokayev “to ensure stability in the country”. Ads that were not enough to demotivate the demonstrators, and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted on January 5 the resignation of the government.
