TotalEnergies, EDF and Engie urge French to use less energy

They wage a merciless economic and commercial war. But given the seriousness of the energy crisis that France and Europe are going through, Engie CEO Catherine McGregor and EDF CEOs Jean-Bernard Levy and TotalEnergies’ Patrick Pouillan have decided to put together an alarm. rare in a general forum.

“We call for collective and individual awareness and action so that each of us, each consumer, each company, changes our behavior and immediately limits our consumption of energy, electricity, gas and petroleum products.” they write published in the column Sunday newspaper the initiative of which, according to our information, would be Catherine McGregor.

It is unusual for energy companies to call for less consumption of what they produce. But Europe lacks energy. For several months now, Russia has been reducing its gas exports to put pressure on European countries to stop them from providing aid to Ukraine. Before the war, it covered 40% of European gas consumption (about 20% of France). To make matters worse, nuclear power production is severely curtailed by a series of outages that shut down twelve reactors indefinitely, and a drought prevents hydroelectric dams from being filled. Gas in insufficient quantity, nuclear and hydraulic hemisphere. this triple can lead to controlled power outages during the cold season, as well as gas supply interruptions to large industrial facilities. No offense to President Emmanuel Macron, who promised this in early June“No risk of cutting” this winter.

“Every gesture counts”

“The rise in energy prices resulting from these difficulties threatens our social and political cohesion and has an enormous impact on the purchasing power of families. raise the leaders in their pulpit. The best energy remains what we don’t consume. » The big three bosses want to launch a “Basic program of energy efficiency”. and he “National Scavenger Hunt”.

Time is running out, they are alarmed. “Acting this summer will allow us to be better prepared for next winter and, in particular, to preserve our gas reserves. The effort should be direct, collective and massive. Every gesture counts.” A source in the big group claims. “It is a call for a universal mobilization of energy sobriety as soon as possible.” Indeed, with the EDF nuclear fleet producing far less than usual, France is operating its gas plants as rarely as possible this season. Every kilowatt hour of electricity saved today would save 2 kilowatt hours of gas.

“I welcome this joint position of the big energy bosses.” Energy Transition Minister Agnes Panier-Runacher tweeted on Sunday, opening a major consultation to anticipate winter difficulties. The government started on Thursday “A big appeal to the state and large private operators to activate the energy sobriety action plan.” The purpose: reduce consumption by 10% in two years.

Very tense situation

However, and much to the chagrin of energy players, the executive refuses to mobilize the population to save at this stage. “It is abnormal that the big leaders of the industry are calling for a general mobilization, not the government, as in Germany last week.” responds to the expert of the world of energy. Some NGOs and trade unions, such as the CFDT, are calling for an energy conservation program on the same scale that was implemented in 1973 during the first oil shock.

For several weeks, the Directorate-General for Energy and Climate and Energy (DGEC) and Ademe (Environment and Energy Management Agency) have been ready to organize a campaign for the general public. But the executive does not want to launch it until autumn. “Now it is being played that the underground gas reservoirs should be filled, asserts Julien Gorintin, director of data and innovation at energy management support company Lite. Everything we consume today is as much as we will not have next winter, when we will need it most.
In a sign that the situation is very tense, the government plans to temporarily restart the coal-fired power station at Saint-Avold (Moselle) to cope with peak winter consumption.