The French utility major stated that, on an average, the impact of this price increase on a family living in an apartment or house will be less than E0.50, including valued added tax (VAT) per month without electric heating, and less than E1.50 per month including VAT with electric heating.
The price increase is in accordance with the public service agreement signed by EDF and the French government in October 2005, which guarantees that until 2010, any rise in electricity prices will not exceed inflation for households.
For business customers and local authorities the average increase will be less than E0.50 per kWh. This change will apply to EDF customers who opted to stay on the regulated tariff when the market was deregulated. France’s regulated tariff is among the lowest in Europe, according to EDF.
EDF has said that this increase comes at a time when it is facing a sharp rise in its procurement costs and is fast-tracking its operating investments in France, expected to exceed E20 billion during the 2008-10 period, in order to guarantee the country’s security of supply.
The company stated that household electricity prices will only rise by 2%, when over the last 12 months inflation climbed to 3.6%, and oil prices have soared 50% and gas prices have increased 16%.
