Savings customers get a discount on their electricity bill

A news that makes people happy. Two of the main French electricity suppliers, TotalEnergies and Engie, plan to reward their customers’ sobriety this winter, an approach similar to certain contracts offered by EDF for several years.

These initiatives are reinforced by fears of network tensions, given the gas supply problems and the difficulties facing the French nuclear fleet.

Hydrocarbon giant TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday a discount on bills ranging from 30 to 120 euros for its customers that will cut their electricity consumption this winter, as part of calls for energy sobriety.

Holding an electricity contract with TotalEnergies since November 2021

“This reward, called Bonus Conso, is a bonus that varies from 30 euros to 120 euros, depending on the reduction in consumption that will be achieved by the customer,” the company said in a press release.

To take advantage of this, customers must have an electricity contract with TotalEnergies since November 2021, be equipped with a Linky meter and have not changed accommodation since last winter. According to the company, this would involve “more than three million households”.

Specifically, TotalEnergies will compare household consumption data between November 2022 and March 2023 with those of the same period of the previous year, without taking into account the “weather effect”, ie temperature variations from year to year.

“The amount of the bonus is proportional to the reduction in consumption reached by the customer” at the end of winter, from 30 euros for a 5% consumption to 120 euros for a 20% reduction. This amount will then be deducted from the invoices of the customers concerned from April. “This bonus is in addition to the savings that the customer realizes thanks to his consumption reduction,” emphasizes TotalEnergies in its press release.

At Engie, daily challenges

An approach similar to that announced at Engie, with the first “My Bonus Engie” campaign launched in mid-October with individual customers who have given their consent “to access their daily electricity consumption data and have expressed an interest in participating in daily challenges on days when the grid is strained”.

“The daily challenge is to reduce electricity consumption by x% compared to forecast consumption, based on the customer’s consumption on the same day of the last three previous weeks (D-7, D-14 and D-21)” said the operator.

“Between one and three days before the said day, we are launching a ‘My Bonus Engie’ challenge, which sets a consumption reduction target of between 10 and 20%, depending on the weather and the needs of the network, explained to the AFP Marion Derrider -Blondel, Marketing Director for Individuals at Engie France She says the discount can be between 5 and 10 euros per challenge.

With EDF, shift consumption to specific days

At EDF, the approach is a bit different, with the existence of long-term contracts that allow for savings on electricity by shifting consumption to certain days (blue or white) instead of others (red).

Tempo, which has replaced a peak load shedding offer, is a regulated sales rate option defined by the government and the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE) and marketed by EDF, in addition to the peak/off-peak hours option.