Besides gas and electricity supply, EDF accompanies its customers through energy efficiency and services offers as well as new decentralisedenergy solutions. EDF aspires to be a trusted partner for customers, engaging in responsible marketing and providing simple, intelligible offers.
28,7 millions
CUSTOMER SITES IN FRANCE(1)
243,3 TWh
ELECTRICITY SALES IN 2020(2)
32,6 TWh
GAS SALES IN 2020 (3)
(1) EDF Customer Division + Électricité de Strasbourg; electricity: 26.9 million, gas: 1.9 million.
(2) EDF Customer Division (excluding transfers to local distribution companies) + Électricité de Strasbourg.
(3) EDF Customer Division + Électricité de Strasbourg.
EDF’s sales and supply activities in France (excluding overseas departments and Corsica) are managed by the Customer Division.
Since 1 July 2007, the French market for electricity and gas has fully opened-up each customer able to choose their energy supplier.
Over the last five years, the number of active electricity suppliers in France excluding historical suppliers has doubled from 24 at end-2015 to 43 at 30 June 2020(1) according to the market observatory of the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE).
In the electricity and gas markets many suppliers have been proposing offers to businesses and local authorities since the early 2000’s. For residential customers, competition has intensified significantly since 2017 with the entry into the market of gas and electricity suppliers well established in other activities or geographical areas.
To supply their customers in 2020, EDF’s alternative suppliers had access to their own generation capacities as well as to the wholesale electricity market and the ARENH for around 100TWh. During the November 2020 application process, the demand from alternative providers reached 146.2TWh for an ARENH distribution volume of100TWh (see also section 1.4.3.3 “Regulated Access to Historic Nuclear Energy(ARENH))”.
Regulatory notice
Pursuant to French Act 2019-1147 of 8 November 2019 on energy and the climate (known as the “Energy-Climate Act”), regulated tariffs for the sale of gas ceased at the end of 2020 for professional clients consuming less than 30MWh/year and will come to an end on 30 June 2023 for domestic consumers, pursuant to procedures detailed in the Act. For details about the end of regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity in France (“TRV”, or “blue”tariffs) for some professional customers, see note 5.1.1 in the notes to the2020 consolidated financial statements.
The CRE is an independent administrative authority. Its responsibility is to ensure the proper workings of the electricity and natural gas markets for end consumers. In this respect, the CRE ensures, in particular, that the conditions for access to electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution networks do not impede the development of competition.
The CRE has significant powers: the power to make proposals, advisory power sand decision-making powers (approval power and regulatory power). The CRE makes proposals, in particular:
Moreover, it has been the CRE’s responsibility to send its reasoned proposals for changes in the regulated sales and transfer tariffs for electricity to theMinisters for the Economy and for Energy.
The CRE has decision-making power to establish Tariffs for Using the PublicElectricity transmission and distribution Networks (Tarifs d’Utilisation desRéseaux Publics de transport et de distribution d’Électricité, TURPE).
Under its residual regulatory power, the CRE also takes network connection decisions, as well as decisions to define the rules for calculating and adjusting the rights of suppliers to the ARENH.
The CRE is also vested with very broad powers that enable it to obtain any information that it may deem useful for the fulfilment of its remit, as well as authority to settle disputes and to apply penalties, through the Settlement ofDisputes and Sanctions Committee (CoRDiS).
The Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth also gives the CRE the possibility of having the information it obtains through its remits audited, at the expense of the audited undertakings.
Organic Law no. 2017-54 of 20 January 2017 on Independent AdministrativeAuthorities and Independent Public Authorities and Law no. 2017-55 of20 January 2017 on the General Statute of Independent AdministrativeAuthorities and Independent Public Authorities, provided these authorities, including the CRE, with a common legal status and lay down the rules relating to the mandate and ethics of members, the operation and organisation of these authorities and parliamentary control. The Energy and Climate Law no. 2019-1147 of 8 November 2019 modifies the composition of the CRE council.
(1) Providers who say they have offers available in at least 90% of all municipalities in metropolitan France connected to the grid (excluding Corsica). At 30 June 2020, just over100 non-national electricity providers were also active within this area.
