Within the framework of the Energy and Climate Act, several provisions have been taken concerning regulated sales tariffs or the ARENH:

• the provisions concerning the ARENH: they are described in §1A above (Developments in public policies in France and Europe);
• the reduced scope of sites eligible for the Regulated Sales Tariffs (TRVE): as of 1 January 2021, only domestic end consumers, including sole proprietors and co-owners’ associations of a single residential building; and non-domestic end consumers employing fewer than ten people and having annual sales, revenue or balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million may benefit from the TRVE for their sites with a subscribed power less than or equal to 36kVA.
  
  

In addition, the Multi-Year Energy Programme (PPE) stipulates that “the government will propose the terms of a new regulation for existing nuclear power that will make it possible to guarantee consumer protection against market price increases beyond 2025 by giving them the competitive advantage linked to the investment made in the historic nuclear fleet, while giving EDF the financial capacity to ensure the economic sustainability of the generation facilities to meet the needs of the Multi-Year Energy Programme in low price scenarios”.

In order to achieve this objective, the French government plans to introduce economic regulation requiring EDF to provide a general economic interest service (SGEI) covering consumer and climate protection for the benefit of all French consumers in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. With this in mind, in January 2020, the government launched a call for contributions from market players and stakeholders on the fundamental findings that led to this economic regulation project, as well as on its proposed construction and operating principles.

Any modification of the ARENH system (volume ceiling, prices) or its replacement by a new system is the responsibility of the French government or the legislator and requires prior in-depth discussions with the European Commission, which means that there is a great deal of uncertainty about what changes will ultimately be implemented and the associated deadlines.

In this context, the risks are as follows:

• with regard to the existing ARENH system:
  • Risk of an increase in the ARENH volume without sufficient changes in price;
  • In addition, the optional nature of the mechanism gives suppliers opportunities for arbitrage between the ARENH mechanism and the markets to the detriment of EDF, and exposes EDF to major uncertainties that have a negative impact on the effectiveness of its energy market risk management (see section 2.2.2C “Energy market risks”) with no corresponding consideration since the option is free of charge.
• with regard to the mechanism envisaged to replace the ARENH: risk that the price level will be insufficient to ensure a fair return on EDF’s nuclear generation assets in France;
• risk of disputes by stakeholders concerning Regulated Sales Tariffs (TRVE).
  
  

More generally, in France as in other countries, the Group cannot guarantee that the ARENH, regulated sales tariffs, Tariffs for Using the Public Transmission and Distribution Networks (TURPE) or local tariff regulations will be set at levels that enable it to preserve its short-, medium- and long-term investment capacity and its proprietary interest, by ensuring a fair return on the capital invested by the Group in its generation, service, transmission and distribution assets.

There is also a risk, which could be brought about by inadequate regulation, that CO₂ prices may be too low and not allow sufficient development of low-carbon energy solutions, at the expense of an effective transition in favour of the fight against climate change. This may represent a loss of opportunity to promote the Group’s low-carbon energy solutions and call into question the Group’s ability to achieve corporate responsibility objective no. 1, committed to climate action (see section 3.2.1.1.1 “EDF group’s ambition”).

1C: Evolution of the regulatory framework for hydraulic concessions.

The Group sometimes carries out its hydropower generation activities under public service concessions and does not always own the assets it operates. Changes in the regulatory framework, particularly with respect to the renewal of concessions, changes in the specifications of concessions and the conditions of implementation could have an impact on the Group’s results.

Criticality in view of the control actions undertaken: Strong.

In France, hydropower facilities are operated under concessions granted by the French State for facilities with a capacity of 4.5MW or more and under authorisations by the Prefecture for facilities of less than 4.5MW (see Section 1.5.3.3 “Regulations applicable to hydropower and other renewable energy facilities”). The challenges associated with the renewal of hydraulic concessions in France are specified in section 1.4.1.5.1.4 “Hydropower generation issues”.

The EDF group cannot guarantee that each of the concessions that it currently operates will be renewed, or that any concession will be renewed under the same financial terms and conditions as the initial concession. Furthermore, the Group cannot guarantee that the compensation paid by the government in the event of early termination of a concession’s operation will fully compensate the Group’s consequent loss of revenue, or that future regulations regarding the limitation of fees will not change in a way that could negatively affect the Group. These factors could have an adverse impact on its activities and financial position.

The Group also operates under hydroelectric power generation concessions in other countries where it operates, notably in Italy. Depending on the conditions in each country, these concessions may not be continued or may not be renewed in its favour with changes to the financial terms and conditions of the concession specifications, which would have an adverse impact on the Group’s activities and financial position.

1D: Evolution of the regulatory framework for electricity distribution concessions.

The Group conducts its distribution activities under public service concessions and does not own most of the assets it operates. Changes in the regulatory framework, in concession specifications and implementation conditions could have an impact on the Group’s results.

Criticality in view of the control actions undertaken: Intermediate.

In France, Enedis does not own all the assets that make up the distribution network, which by law (with the exception of the source stations) is owned by the local authorities. This is why Enedis must also enter into public electricity distribution concession contracts with these local authorities(see section 1.4.4.2.2 “Distribution activities”), which grant it, within the limits of contractual stipulations, the exclusive right to carry out the tasks of developing and operating the public electricity distribution system. These public electricity distribution concession agreements, generally concluded for a period of between 25 and 30 years, are tripartite contracts between the licensing authority, the distribution system operator and the supplier at the regulated rates. Under the law, only Enedis and Local Distribution Companies (LDC) in their service areas (and EDF for areas not connected to the continental metropolitan network) may be appointed to operate the public energy distribution networks and only EDF and LDCs in their service areas may be appointed to provide the supply at the regulated rates. Therefore, at this time, when a concession agreement is renewed, Enedis and EDF do not compete with other operators. This is the legal basis for the current process of renewing concession contracts with all of the authorities in charge of organising electricity distribution, based on a new contract template drawn up in December 2017 by the FNCCR (Fédération nationale des collectivités concédantes et régies – National Federation of Licensing Authorities), France Urbaine, EDF and Enedis. However, the Group cannot guarantee that such provisions will not be modified in the future by legislation (see section 1.5.1.3 “Concession contracts for the distribution and supply of electricity in France”). Furthermore, the Group may not obtain the renewal of these contracts under the same financial terms and conditions.