Faced with an escalation in energy prices that “threatens our social and political cohesion and severely impacts the purchasing power of families”
The directors of the three large French energy companies – the oil company TotalEnergies and the electricity companies EDF and Engie – have urged French consumers and businessmen to “immediately” reduce consumption in the face of an escalation in energy prices that “threatens our social cohesion and politics and severely impacts the purchasing power of families.
“We call for collective and individual awareness so that each one of us – each consumer, each company – changes their behavior and immediately limits their consumption of energy, electricity, gas and oil products”, added Catherine McGregor, director CEO of Engie, Jean-Bernard Lévy, President-CEO of EDF, and Patrick Pouyanné, President-CEO of TotalEnergies
The three directors believe that, if they start “acting from this summer, we can be better prepared to face next winter and preserve national gas reserves,” they warned in a joint forum published in ‘Le Journal du Dimanche’.
This call for energy sobriety comes at a time when, as they recalled, “the European energy system has been under severe tension for months, and the French energy system is not spared.”
TotalEnergies, EDF and Engie explained in their forum that “Russian pipeline gas supplies have decreased considerably in some countries, including France”, that “electricity production capacity is also under pressure” and that weather conditions and Drought reduces hydropower production.
“The best energy is the one that is not consumed,” say the three directors. »The effort must be immediate, collective and massive. Every gesture counts. Make no mistake, saving energy is increasing purchasing power and thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions“, they add.
Those responsible for Engie, EDF and TotalEnergies also advocate “acting on a European scale and showing solidarity”. They recall that “our markets are interdependent” and that “European electricity and gas interconnection is more than ever essential.” For this reason, they consider that it is necessary to make investments to “reinforce the balance between countries and perpetuate solidarity between countries, in particular from Central and Eastern Europe.”
