© Enedis
On May 14, the National Energy Ombudsman published a damning report which castigates the commercial practices of Enedis, the manager of the French electricity network. The institution points the finger at overbilling imposed on households, often linked to the new Linky meters. Enough to seriously call into question the internal management and ethics of the EDF subsidiary.
More than questionable practices
The institution points out the non-compliance by the manager of the French electricity network with the & #8217;article L. 224-11 of the Consumer Code. However, this explicitly stipulates that “ no consumption of electricity or natural gas older than fourteen months from the last reading or self-reading can be billed , except in the event of lack of access to the meter, absence of transmission by the consumer of an index relating to their actual consumption, after a letter sent to the customer by the network manager by registered letter with request for acknowledgment of receipt, or fraud ”.
Enedis must have fogged up its glasses since despite these clear provisions, Enedis sent certain households invoices covering consumption periods sometimes exceeding two years. That's not all! These illegal bill catch-ups increased by 64% in one year according to the National Energy Ombudsman.
The funniest thing in the story is that the billing delays are due to Enedis. In 2019, a customer received an adjustment invoice two years after their actual consumption, well beyond the legal deadline of 14 months. Faced with this unfair situation, the Mediator proposed sharing responsibilities between Enedis and the energy supplier, thus proposing that each party bear part of the shortfall. However, Enedis refused to pay its 59% share; despicable behavior, both in the eyes of the law and the consumer.
A typical example of practices engaged in by certain players in the energy sector, taking advantage of the vulnerability of users and the complexity of procedures to enrich themselves unfairly.
Consequences for consumers and responses from Enedis
The National Mediator of the & #8217;energy also highlights another serious failing by Enedis: its disproportionately long commissioning times. These delays force consumers to submit to exorbitant electricity prices, because they are unable to benefit from the rate offered by their supplier. Indeed, when an energy contract is not activated in time by Enedis, households find themselves unable to consume electricity in completely legal. They are then forced to resort to supplies at the so-called “ spot sale ” rate, invoiced at the wholesale market price. A rate sometimes more than double that offered by traditional energy suppliers. A height.
Enedis was therefore contacted by Capital and highlighted a 5% reduction in the volume of its mediation files in 2023, attributing this improvement to the deployment of Linky meters across the national territory. She assures her good faith by explaining: “ We are continuing discussions with the National Energy Mediator to go even further, in particular to improve the precision of our responses and the quality of processing of files”.
Another story on the side of National Mediator: “ Enedis refuses in too many cases to follow the recommendations of the National Energy Mediator& ;nbsp;”. In addition to being unacceptable and illegal, the non-cooperative behavior of Enedis in relation to mediations is proof of the opacity that the company maintains around its practices. In these times of dizzying inflation, this is truly intolerable. Let's wait and see if the company will be brought to justice for these actions.
- The National Ombudsman of ;#8217;energy accuses Enedis of illegal practices.
- The company overcharges customers equipped with Linky meters in disregard of article L. 224 -11 of the Consumer Code.
- The latter is very often deaf to the recommendations proposed by the Mediator.
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