Nearly 20 million households could see their annual bill increase by 26 euros, subject to validation by the government.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) indicated this Thursday that it had proposed to the French government an average increase of 2.5% in regulated electricity prices, as of August 1, 2026. This measure would concern “19.37 million residential customers” having subscribed to a contract with regulated electricity sales prices (TRVE) at the end of March in mainland mainland France, according to the CRE.
A moderate but significant increase
This increase would represent an increase in the annual bill of around 26 euros all taxes included for the households concerned. For an average consumption of 4.5 megawatt hours per year, the bill would increase from 1,046 to 1,072 euros including tax. The change in the average level of regulated prices proposed by the administrative authority compared to those currently in force would be on average “of the order of +5.98 euros” per megawatt hour, all taxes included.
The CRE justifies its proposal in particular by the increase in the tariff for the use of public electricity networks (Turpe), one of the three components of the regulated tariffs. The other two are electricity supply and taxes. The CRE specifies that this draft deliberation is “sent to the Higher Energy Council for opinion”. The final word rests with the government, which can accept or refuse the proposal.
Regulated electricity sales prices are opposed to market rates, offered by many suppliers since the sector was opened to competition. Since January 1, 2026, a new organization of the electricity market in France has been put in place, with the end of price control for EDF’s nuclear production, a regulated pricing system, known as Arenh (regulated access to historic nuclear electricity).
Bercy assured AFP at the end of 2025 that “bill prices should be stable at least in 2026 and 2027” for three-quarters of French people, those having subscribed to the regulated electricity sales tariff. At the end of last January, the CRE proposed an average reduction of 0.8% in these regulated tariffs as of February 1. “These prices fell by 15% last February, they had not changed since, and there we continue to stabilize, and even a very slight drop,” its president Emmanuelle Wargon said on Franceinfo.
The proposed increase in regulated prices must now obtain the opinion of the Higher Energy Council before being submitted to the government’s final decision. The Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent authority responsible for the proper functioning of the electricity and natural gas markets.
