Electricity: the Regulatory Commission is investigating the supplier Ohm Energie – franceinfo

Soaring wholesale electricity prices in Europe led the French energy policeman to step up its surveillance of operators in France this summer, who benefit from de facto subsidized electricity. Article written by Published on 09/09/2022 17:01 Updated on 09/09/2022 17:21 Reading time: 1 min. Ohm Energie is under investigation by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), the organization announced on Friday, September 9 in a press release, confirming information from the Parisian. The alternative electricity supplier, founded in 2018, is suspected of having made undue profits on the markets with cheap nuclear electricity purchased from EDF via the Regulated Access to Historical Nuclear Electricity (Arenh) mechanism. The independent authority suspects him of having bought nuclear electricity from the Arenh and resold it on the markets at a higher rate instead of passing it on to his customers. Ohm Energie disputes this version and claims to have “never sold the slightest kWh of the Arenh on the markets”, according to its founding president, François Joubert, a former EDF engineer. However, Ohm Energie confirmed to AFP that it had “received a notification informing it of an investigation carried out by the CRE”. “Its prices after the increase remain lower or equivalent to those of its competitors”, further argued the company, which “intends to maintain them all winter without additional increase”. “A first investigation has been launched on the company Ohm Energie, which in no way prejudges at this stage the existence or not of breaches that only a substantive investigation will, if necessary, allow to be established”, for its part declared the CRE. It “confirms that certain suppliers are the subject of ongoing investigations, in particular with regard to actions likely to constitute an abuse of Arenh”. The investigations may lead to a referral to the Dispute Resolution and Sanctions Committee (Cordis), which may decide on possible sanctions. The consumer association CLCV explains that it has alerted the authorities for months to “a risk of Arenh speculative flaw” on the part of alternative suppliers with a “bypass of the Arenh rules”. According to the association, suspicions also target the company Mint Energie against which the CLCV has initiated a group action. The regulator recalls that individuals and certain small professionals can always change their contract and opt for EDF’s regulated tariffs, frozen since February by the government’s “tariff shield”. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share by email Share link