“There is Nothing for the Customer to Do”… Off-Peak Hours will Change, are you Concerned?
HISTORICAL CHANGE: From November 1st, hundreds of thousands of subscribers will see their off-peak hours modified to better match production
It is a system that is more than sixty years old. Created to attempt to lock in nuclear production during night hours, the off-peak and peak hours contract will soon experience its greatest revolution. Summoned to adapt to new uses and new production of electricity by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), Enedis will experience the biggest reform of its customer contracts. Consequence: from November 1, hundreds of thousands of households will see the placement of these off-peak hours evolve. A major change that will be imposed. You won’t have to do anything to engage it. But you won’t be able to object to it either. Explanations.
When will the change be made and who is affected?
The timetable reform will start on November 1. For this first phase, which is expected to last one year, 1.7 million households are affected. “We are going to change the off-peak hours of around 300,000 households per month, or an average of 10,000 customers per day”, explains Thierry Vachon, customer director at Enedis. All those who see their off-peak hours change on November 1 should normally have been notified by their electricity supplier, who must notify you one month before your change. Remember that the off-peak rate is lower for customers. Eventually 11 million families will be affected.
The first households to be affected are those who had the most “advantageous” hours for them. That is to say people benefiting from off-peak hours located between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. These time slots have been identified as periods of high consumption by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Where can I find my new off-peak hours? And what to do?
To find out your off-peak hours, you must refer to your invoice where your energy supplier is required to mention them. He is the one who will notify you of new schedules. Note that your new off-peak hours will be offered during the day, particularly between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., but also at night. They make up a total of eight hours (compared to sixteen hours for peak hours) with at least five hours straight at night. A necessity for anyone who wants to charge their electric car. “There is nothing to do for the customer”, assures Enedis, which will take care of modifying schedules remotely, via the Linky meter. Only manual programmers will need to be modified.
Why such a change?
“To encourage consumption at the right time and take advantage of cheaper periods during the day “, explains Timothée Furois, technical director at Enedis. The idea is to better adapt to changing uses, particularly teleworking and the development of programmable devices. Having off-peak hours during the day means the possibility of starting a washing machine, a dryer or turning on your heating at a lower cost.
France especially wants to take advantage of its production peaks during the day, particularly solar, which produces mainly in the afternoon, when demand for electricity is low. Ultimately, Enedis hopes to move 5 gigawatts of consumption in the afternoon, the equivalent of four nuclear power plants.
Why does my neighbor have different hours?
Off-peak hours are different depending on the region, in order to take into account local specificities of electricity production. If your neighbor does not have the same hours as you, it is to avoid “a simultaneous power call at certain times”, assures Thierry Vachon.
Can I object to this change?
Absolutely not. You do not have the choice of your off-peak hours, which are imposed on you by your supplier. Please note that if you change supplier, off-peak hours will not change, since they are allocated by delivery point (by meter). However, some operators are starting to create more attractive price offers for certain time slots.
What will the change of summer/winter season correspond to?
Initially, off-peak seasonality will not be implemented. But from the end of 2026, off-peak hours will be modified depending on the season, either in summer mode from the 1st April to the 31st October, or in winter from the 1st November to the 31st March. “In summer, we take advantage a little later and we produce more with solar power”, explains Enedis. Off-peak hours will then be more during the day and less at night (but never less than five consecutive hours at night). Eleven million people will be affected by these adaptations which will start in November 2026 and end at the end of 2027.
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