Energy poverty: “We must triple the amount of the energy check”

INTERVIEW. As the number of households unable to heat themselves properly is exploding in France, Capital met Hélène Denise, advocacy officer at the Abbé Pierre Foundation. The coordinator of the Day Against Energy Poverty, scheduled for November 12, presents her solutions to fight against this scourge.

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Energy poverty continues to gain ground in France. According to the energy mediator, no less than 12 million people, or around a fifth of the French population, were unable to heat themselves properly in 2023. Rising energy costs, inflation which is making the most vulnerable households vulnerable. more fragile, dilapidated housing or even the effects of climate change: the causes of this scourge are multiple. Another alarming figure, 1 million households suffered a power cut or a reduction in power due to unpaid energy bills last year, a spectacular increase of +49% compared to 2019. In this context, Capital met Hélène Denise, coordinator of the Day Against Energy Poverty, scheduled for November 12. The opportunity to take stock of this scourge which is affecting more and more households, and above all to address solutions that could improve the situation.

Capital: energy poverty has continued to gain ground in France in recent years. Why is the situation deteriorating so quickly?

Hélène Denise: for four years, we have in fact observed a serious worsening of all indicators. The number of people who report being cold in their home increased from 14% in 2020 to 30% in 2024. The causes are multiple. The price of energy has been exploding in recent years despite the various price shields that have been put in place by the government. But these protections are disappearing while energy prices remain high. Households have great difficulty coping with these price increases during periods of high inflation. According to INSEE, the rate of people experiencing material deprivation, that is to say the share of households who are unable to meet their basic needs, reached 13% in 2023.

Is fuel poverty directly linked to poverty?

Yes, there is rampant precariousness, the incomes of the poorest are stagnating in the face of continuously increasing prices. The cost of housing is also increasing with rising rents. Households’ remaining living space is increasingly reduced. The poverty line is almost at the level of the minimum wage. We also have far too many energy-intensive homes, with 4.6 million thermal sieves, homes that are very expensive to heat.

How does climate change contribute to accentuating the phenomenon of energy poverty?

Global warming is increasing the number of extreme weather phenomena, including heat waves, which are becoming longer and more intense. They are also more devastating. We had 5,000 deaths last year in France due to the heat and 20,000 people required emergency care. However, over the last ten years, the proportion of people who report suffering from heat in their homes has increased by +26%. In the coming years, the challenge will be to adapt the renovation policy to cope with extreme heat. Otherwise, we will end up with an explosion in the number of air conditioners, which consume a lot of energy. This would put households in difficulty who will see their bills explode. In addition, these devices contribute to increasing greenhouse gases.

What solutions do you propose to combat energy poverty?

The State must be more ambitious regarding the financial resources allocated to public housing renovation policy. He had announced a target of 600,000 renovations per year by 2030, today we are at only around 200,000. We need to put a lot more money into helping households carry out renovation work. Renovation takes a long time.

What are the short-term solutions?

The urgency is to help households in difficulty pay their energy bills. THE energy check is the right system, which helps to relieve the poorest people in paying their bills. Unfortunately, he is in serious danger. Initially, it was sent automatically to all people whose reference tax income was below 11,000 euros per year and per single person. But this year, the finance bill provides for a measure which puts an end to the automatic payment of this check. The poorest people will now have to go to a platform to request the check, by sending their tax notice. We know it won’t work. This solution has already been implemented for a million beneficiaries, and only 13% of eligible people have requested their check.

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How to make the energy check more effective?

We are very worried because if the energy check does not work, we will face an even greater explosion in the number of households in fuel poverty. We are requesting the return of the automatic sending of the check as well as the tripling of its amount, which currently stands at 150 euros. We must also raise the eligibility threshold, so that the energy check is paid to 30% of the poorest households, compared to around 15% today. Finally, we must prohibit all energy suppliers from cutting off electricity to households in difficulty (this is already the case during the winter break, editor’s note), by including this measure in the law.