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Recent developments in French fuel poverty policies

Recent developments in French fuel poverty policies. Ute DUBOIS, ISG Business School, Paris ute.dubois@isg.fr Energy Action European Fuel poverty Conference , Dublin, 11 th -12 th March 2013. French fuel poverty policies in times of transition. A bit of history

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Recent developments in French fuel poverty policies

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  1. Recent developments in French fuel poverty policies Ute DUBOIS, ISG Business School, Paris ute.dubois@isg.fr Energy Action European Fuel poverty Conference, Dublin, 11th -12th March 2013

  2. French fuel poverty policies in times of transition • A bit of history • Since the middle of the 1980s France has developed actions towards people with symptoms of fuel poverty • Financial assistance to customers with payment difficulties (1985) • Social tariffs for electricity and gas (2004 & 2008) • But without having a global approach of the problem • No estimation of the number of households in fuel poverty • No definition of fuel poverty • 2009/2010: the turning point of fuel poverty policies • A first measurement of the number of households in fuel poverty • A legal definition of “energy precariousness” • First national fuel poverty programme (HabiterMieux) • Launching of an observatory of fuel poverty

  3. Different measures of “energy precariousness” France (2006) Source : Devalière et al. (2011) 621 000 HHs suffering of both

  4. Plan of the presentation • The transformation of the French approach to fuel poverty • What? • Who? • How? • The new approach to fighting fuel poverty • Thermal refurbishment of buildings: HabiterMieux • Education & distribution of small appliances: Achieve & Slime

  5. Part 1:The transformation of the French approach to fuel poverty

  6. A. What ? Three main policy domains Three main policy domains to address the three causes of fuel poverty • Households’ incomes  social policy (income support, subsidies) • Energy prices and supply conditions  regulatory measures (social tariffs & specific protections) • Energy efficiency of homes & equipment  housing policy, environmental policy (thermal refurbishment, replacement of heating systems)

  7. A. What?The emergence of the French policy landscape 1985 1996 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 1985: 1st measures (EDF-state contract on a solidarity fund) 1996: EDF discounts for vulnerable customers (techn.interventions) 2004: Reorganisation of solidarity funds for energy (FSL) 2007: Creation of Médiateur National de l’Energie 2012: social tariffs automatically applied 2012: Project of progressive tariffs 2004: Social tariff for electricity (TPN) 2008: Social tariff for gas (TSS) 2002: FSATME (social funds for thermal refurbishment) 2009: 1st report estimating extent of fuel poverty 2011: Programme “Habitermieux” 2012: Inclusion of fuel poverty in white certificates

  8. B. Who? • Fuel poverty policies have different origins • Policies embedded in a larger set of networks & initiatives • Today: implementation of actions to reduce fuel poverty at the local level  involvement of many local actors in fuel poverty reduction

  9. B. Who?Different origins of fuel poverty policies

  10. B. Who? Several policy levels involved • 22 Regions with some competencies in energy policy • Ile de France region (2013): priority on fighting fuel poverty • 100 Départements • Traditionally in charge of social issues • More recently: Local climate and energy plans & Local energy agencies in charge of fuel poverty • Municipalities • Start developing initiatives that go beyond simple financial assistance to households with payment difficulties

  11. B. Who? The broader picture of networks & initiatives Climate, environment & energy Housing Social

  12. C. How?Widening the scope of interventions • Traditional tools of social policy • Financial assistance to alleviate the symptoms • New tools to remedy to the causes of fuel poverty • Multiplication of instruments • White certificates • Self rehabilitation • Networking is the key • At the national level: Rappel network • Locally: HabiterMieux& the local contracts of commitment • At the European level: Achieve Communication & education Distribution of small appliances Replacement of heating equipments & thermal refurbishment of buildings

  13. Part 2:The new approach to fighting fuel poverty

  14. A. HabiterMieux: objectives • With “Habitermieux”, France is engaging in a new type of fuel poverty policy that addresses the causes of fuel poverty, i.e. energy efficiency of homes • Targeting: low-income households living in energy inefficient homes (+ aged > 65) • being “only” poor is not sufficient • Living “only” in an energy inefficient home is not sufficient either • Objective: thermal refurbishment of 300 000 homes over 7 years • Thermal insulation • Replacement of heating equipments • Energy efficiency gain must be 25 % at least • Funding: combine different types of resources • ANAH (up to 50 %) • ANAH HabiterMieux (1600 €) • Local authorities (500€ - 1000 €) • Charities, pension funds • Microcredit

  15. A. HabiterMieux: implementation • Coordinator: national agency of habitat improvement (Anah) • A programme that is declined locally, in the Départements • Local contracts of commitment • Creation of local networks of actors of the identification of fuel poor households (actors already in contact with households)  creation of these networks can be seen as an an investment • Implementation process • Identification of households by members of the network • Thermal diagnosis (technical visit) • Realisation of thermal renovations  Project engineering + financial engineering by a specialised operator

  16. A. HabiterMieux: first results • Until November 2012, 9 400 renovations have taken place • Average cost of refurbishment: 18 000 € • Average energy efficiency gain: 38 % • Slow start of the programme  investment dimension (it takes time to create local networks) • Unequal implementation • appropriation of the programme strongly dependent on involvement of local actors Source: ANAH (2012)

  17. B. Slime & Achieve: develop systematic actions of information and distribution of small appliances France --- SLIME in the DépartementGers Germany --- Stromsparcheck (Caritas) Bulgaria, France, Germany, Slovenia & UK --- European project France --- “enlarged” SLIME coordinated by CLER --- Eligibility to white certificates

  18. Conclusion • France has developed a new policy approach towards households in fuel poverty • From alleviating the consequences of fuel poverty • To combating the causes of fuel poverty • Specificity of the French approach • Recognition that policies based on self-referral will fail to identify many fuel poor people • Therefore, development of proactive approaches of identification • First lessons • One challenge: how to make professionals with different backgrounds (social, technical) work together? • More generally, creation of network-type modes of organisation is necessary • But this does not happen automatically (can be assimilated to an investment)

  19. Thank you for your attention! Ute DUBOIS, ISG Business School, Paris ute.dubois@isg.fr Energy Action European Fuel poverty Conference, Dublin, 11th -12th March 2013

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