Ultimately, you don't really need a Linky meter at home

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While Enedis, the electricity grid manager, is making significant profits from installing Linky meters, users are struggling to see the concrete benefits promised by this technology.

The deployment of Linky meters was a nationwide project. With 34 million units installed and a final cost of €4.6 billion – €880 million less than expected – the project appears to have been well managed financially. But who really benefits from this success ? According to a report published at the end of 2024 by the Court of Auditors, it is above all Enedis that comes out the winner.

Thanks to a financial mechanism called “tariff deferral”, validated by the Energy Regulatory Commission, Enedis was able to amortize its investment by relying on the savings generated by Linky.These savings come mainly from the possibility of carrying out operations remotely – such as readings or commissioning – without the physical intervention of technicians. This has allowed the company to reduce its operational costs and even eliminate around 2,500 local technician jobs.

However, since 2021, it is consumers who have been asked to contribute to financing this tariff deferral via a tax included in their electricity bill (the Turpe), for a total amount of 785 million euros. A situation denounced in 2018 by the Court of Auditors and which continues to attract criticism today.

Limited benefits for individuals

For users, the Linky meter was supposed to mean savings and better energy management. Enedis promised an “intelligent analysis” of consumption, allowing households to identify their expenditure items and thus adopt more economical behavior. In reality, the technology is limited to providing detailed data on electricity consumption in half-hourly increments. While this information is useful for better understanding energy usage, it is not enough on its own to significantly reduce bills.

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The Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME) emphasizes that energy efficiency is based above all on the motivation and support of households, two aspects on which Linky has had no notable impact. Furthermore, the promise to do away with regularization bills thanks to billing based on actual consumption has not been kept. The majority of French households still opt for monthly payments.

Finally, one of the key arguments of the project was to encourage the opening of the electricity market to competition and to allow suppliers to propose offers adapted to the specific needs of consumers. But here again, the results are disappointing: apart from the traditional peak/off-peak options, few innovations have emerged. Consumers continue to prefer stable and predictable offers, especially since the surge in electricity prices observed in 2022.

A symbolic victory for opponents

Despite these limitations, Linky has been imposed on a large majority of French households. Recalcitrants are now billed around 11 euros every two months if they still refuse its installation or do not submit their consumption readings. However, some opponents have won their case. On January 4, a resident of the Loire obtained on appeal the uninstallation of his Linky meter in the name of the precautionary principle. The court recognized that the latter suffered from symptoms (wheezing, chronic fatigue, headaches) that appeared after the installation of the device.

Although this decision remains isolated, it illustrates the persistent concerns surrounding the possible health impacts of the connected meter. The Court of Auditors, however, considers that these fears have now been allayed: according to the reports updated in 2023 by Anses (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety), the level of exposure to electromagnetic waves generated by Linky is low and does not present any proven danger.

• Linky mainly benefits Enedis
• The promises of savings and price innovation have not been kept
• Despite some symbolic victories for its opponents, Linky has established itself in almost all French homes

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