France caps power prices increase at 15% next year to shield consumers

Record ID: 1688963

  • Title: France caps power prices increase at 15% next year to shield consumers
  • Date: 14th September 2022
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 14, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FRENCH PRIME MINISTER ELIZABETH BORNE SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER, BRUNO LE MAIRE, SAYING: "The measures which have just been announced by the Prime Minister are targeted measures, what we are doing is that we are putting in place increases (in aid) which are necessary, which are measured, responsible, and the aid is targeted at those who need it the most, the first four-tenths (of income brackets), so it's not "whatever it costs", no issue of the state taking "whatever it costs" measures because that would only fuel inflation." BERCY, FRANCE (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 2022) (REUTERS) FACTORY VARIOUS OF FUMES FROM THE FACTORY PARIS, FRANCE (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 2022) (REUTERS) PETROL PRICES PETROL PIPES VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PUMPING PETROL PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 14, 2022) (REUTERS) MAN CROSSING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) TEACHER, NADEGE FIGAROL, SAYING: "Well, it's still an increase as with everything, and what I was hoping for was for the cap to be maintained in fact, especially for the middle-class families or those in difficulty. I think we have to take care of those for whom the end of the month are difficult." LA DEFENSE, FRANCE (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BUILDINGS OF ENERGY COMPANIES PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 14, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) TEACHER, NADEGE FIGAROL, SAYING: "I'm a little worried because I depend a lot on electricity for heating, all of it, in fact, and I also have parents who have a small pension who depend on fuel oil. They haven't had time to make changes in their house, it's not easy for them and so we have no visibility, we have doubts not only for the coming winter but we feel that way for the later months too. We are tipping over into another world, and that's what we are told anyway." PARIS, FRANCE (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 14, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) STUDENT, MOHAMED BEN HELLAL, SAYING: "Well it's true that at first, we were a little worried about the rise in prices that were going to happen, but having a cap, whether 15% is enough, I don't know, we will see when the time comes, but it's already not bad, and we hope prices won't go up more in the future." PEOPLE SITTING ON THE TERRACE (SOUNDBITE) (French) STUDENT, MOHAMED BEN HELLAL, ASKED IF HE'S WATCHING WHAT HE BUYS, SAYING: "Yes, of course, especially with inflation, we pay a little more attention to what we eat, for example, on time, I went to eat at the restaurant, I didn't have dessert so it's true that we try to be a little more careful on that side."
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2022 16:49
  • Keywords: France energy
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001534714092022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Power and gas price increases for French households will be capped at 15% next year, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday (September 14), as governments across Europe look to tackle prices that have soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
    Borne said the new price cap increase for gas would take effect from January, while the cap increase on electricity would follow a month later.
    President Emmanuel Macron's government has spent billions of euros on measures to dampen the inflationary impact of surging energy prices in the market, including a rebate on fuel pump tariffs.
    The 2023 caps mean that households with gas heating will on average pay 25 euros more every month instead of an extra 200 euros where there is no cap. The average household with electricity heating will see power bills increase by 20 euros a month, the prime minister added.
    France, home to the world's biggest fleet of nuclear reactors after the United States, is less exposed than its European neighbours to a cut in Russian gas supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions. But an unprecedented number of reactor outages have driven French nuclear power output to a 30-year low just as Europe scrambles to find an alternative to Russian supplies, adding to the continent-wide energy crunch.
    (Production: Yiming Woo, Antony Paone, Lucien Libert)
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