Electricity & gas in France: your rights

The market

You can choose your electricity and gas supplier freely. Switching is free, there is no minimum contract period and you can switch as often as you like, including back to the regulated electricity tariff.

Energy regulator

Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE)

Dispute resolution

Médiateur national de l'énergie · free

First send a written complaint (letter or email) to your supplier or grid operator. If it is not solved, you can go to the ombudsman between 2 months and 1 year after that complaint, online via SOLLEN or by post.

Compare prices official

Comparateur d'offres d'électricité et de gaz naturel (énergie-info)

Switching supplier

You only sign a contract with the new supplier and agree a start date; your old contract ends automatically. Give your PDL/PRM (electricity) or PCE (gas) number. No fee may be charged for switching and there is no cut-off.

Price rises

Your supplier must tell you about a contract change, such as a price rise, at least one month before it applies, and inform you of your right to cancel without charge.

Regulated price

Every household can take the regulated electricity tariff from EDF or the local historic supplier and return to it at any time. Prices change twice a year (February and August); CRE proposed +2.5% on average from 1 August 2026. There is no regulated gas tariff.

Help if money is tight

An annual voucher (about €48–277) for households below €11,000 reference tax income per consumption unit, usable for any energy bill. Sent in April; some households must apply at chequeenergie.gouv.fr. Helpline 0 805 204 805.

Protection against cut-off

After an unpaid bill (14 days to pay) you get a letter giving 15 more days (30 with chèque énergie or FSL aid), then a second letter; supply can be reduced or cut 20 days later. No cut-offs 1 November–31 March for your main home.

If your supplier goes bust

If your supplier goes into liquidation, EDF takes over supply as 'fournisseur de secours' (electricity and household gas), so you are not cut off. If no one will give you a gas contract, TotalEnergies is the last-resort supplier in the GRDF area.

Power cut

For a power cut, call the grid operator's breakdown number on your bill (Enedis: 09 726 750 + your 2-digit département, 24/7). If a cut lasts over 5 hours, you get automatic flat-rate compensation on your bill.

Cooling-off period

For contracts signed at your door, by phone or online you have 14 days from signing to withdraw.

Smart meter

Linky smart meters are almost fully rolled out (about 95.6% on Enedis's network). Since August 2025, households keeping an old meter pay an extra network charge (€38.90/year, more if no reading in 12 months). Installation is free.

Solar panels

Home solar owners can sell all their output or just the surplus under a 20-year purchase contract with EDF OA. The tariff depends on the date of your complete grid-connection request and is revised quarterly.

Free energy advice

Free public advice on saving energy and renovating your home: online, in local France Rénov' offices or by phone on 0808 800 700. For unpaid bills, contact your local social services (CCAS) and the Fonds de solidarité pour le logement.

Fixed and dynamic contracts

Any supplier may offer a dynamic electricity price that follows spot market prices, if you have a smart meter (Linky). Suppliers with more than 200,000 sites must offer one on request (Code de l'énergie L332-7).

• Before you sign, the supplier must explain the opportunities, costs and risks, obtain your consent, and give you an alert system for sharp price changes. It is not obliged to set a maximum price. (energie-info.fr)
• CRE publishes the list of obliged suppliers every year. In June 2026 it extended the transitional rules for these offers until 30 June 2027 and plans to update them by October 2026. (cre.fr)
• A bill transposing the EU electricity market reform would require suppliers to offer a fixed-price, fixed-term offer with a price commitment of at least one year. The Senate adopted it on 18 February 2026; it is not yet law. (senat.fr)

Energy sharing and communities

France allows collective self-consumption: producers and consumers in the same building, or close to each other on the low-voltage grid, share locally produced electricity. They must group together in one legal entity (the PMO), which tells the grid operator how the power is shared.

• The legal entity organising the operation can be a citizen or renewable energy community (Code de l'énergie L315-2-2). (legifrance.gouv.fr)
• Anyone can take part: households, businesses, associations and local authorities, as producer, consumer or both. Enedis signs an agreement with the organising entity and applies the sharing rules. (enedis.fr)

Heating without the gas grid

The Médiateur national de l'énergie also handles disputes about bottled or tank LPG, heating oil, wood and district heating (réseaux de chaleur), not only electricity and gas. First complain in writing to the company.

• LPG tank (propane) contracts may last at most 5 years (Code de la consommation L224-19). Price changes must be notified in writing at least one month ahead, and the tank must be removed within 3 months after the contract ends (L224-23). (energie-info.fr)
• If you refuse a price change on an LPG contract, you can end it within 3 months after the new terms apply. Since 2018, offers must follow a standard presentation so you can compare them. (energie-info.fr)

Grants for heat pumps and insulation

MaPrimeRénov' is the national renovation grant run by the Agence nationale de l'habitat (Anah), either per measure (parcours par geste) or for a whole-home renovation (rénovation d'ampleur). You apply on maprimerenov.gouv.fr and may only start work after Anah's acknowledgement of receipt.

• Work must be done by a professional with the RGE label (reconnu garant de l'environnement). The home must generally be at least 15 years old (2 years for a heat pump). (service-public.gouv.fr)
• For a whole-home renovation you must first book an appointment with a France Rénov' adviser, and a Mon Accompagnateur Rénov' supports the project. For single measures this advice is recommended and free. (service-public.gouv.fr)
• From 1 September 2026, hybrid heat pumps with fossil-fuel backup are no longer funded, and gas heating can no longer be kept in a house under a whole-home renovation. (service-public.gouv.fr)

Charging an electric car at home

Tenants and flat owners have a 'droit à la prise': the owner or the co-owners' association cannot refuse, without a serious and legitimate reason, that you install at your own cost a charging point with its own meter on your parking space (Code de la construction et de l'habitation L113-16).

• Serious and legitimate reasons include an existing suitable installation or a decision by the owner or co-owners to equip the car park within a reasonable time. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
• Notify the owner or the syndic by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, with a detailed description of the work and a plan. A tenant sends the request through the landlord. All costs are borne by the person who asks. (ecologie.gouv.fr)

Back-billing and estimated bills

An electricity or gas supplier may not bill consumption older than 14 months before the last meter reading or self-reading (Code de la consommation L224-11). It must bill at least once a year based on actual consumption.

• The limit does not apply if the meter could not be accessed, if you did not send a reading after a registered letter from the grid operator asking for one, or in case of fraud. (legifrance.gouv.fr)

Energy costs for tenants

In a rented home, the landlord can pass on the cost of energy for collective heating and hot water, and maintenance of that equipment, as service charges (décret n°87-713). You pay monthly advances, settled once a year.

• One month before the yearly settlement, the landlord must send a breakdown of charges by type; the supporting documents stay available to you for 6 months. Unpaid charges can be claimed for up to 3 years. (service-public.gouv.fr)
• Buildings with collective heating must bill heating by each flat's own use (meters or heat cost allocators) where technically possible, unless consumption is below 80 kWh/m² a year. Occupants get a monthly estimate of their use. (ecologie.gouv.fr)

Vulnerable and medical customers

People on home life-support equipment can be registered as 'patient à haut risque vital' (PHRV). Your doctor fills in the forms, the regional health agency (ARS) approves, and Enedis then contacts you before planned power cuts. It does not stop cuts.

• The doctor completes CERFA forms 10401-02 and 10402-02, which you send by post to your ARS. Registration must be renewed every year. (enedis.fr)
• Registered patients get a priority phone number to ask how long a cut will last and to update their address or phone number. Keep a backup plan for your equipment. (enedis.fr)

Grid connection

Ask Enedis for a new connection online via Connect-Racco. Enedis estimates 2–6 weeks for the quote, 6–18 weeks for the work and 1–2 weeks for switching on, depending on distance to the grid and power. Costs follow Enedis's published connection price schedule.

• Before switching on you need a supply contract, the paid connection invoice and a Consuel certificate for your indoor wiring. (enedis.fr)
• If a connection takes too long, you can go to the Médiateur national de l'énergie after a written complaint. Disputes about access to the grid can also go to CRE's dispute committee (CoRDiS), which does not award compensation. (service-public.gouv.fr)

Consumer organisation

Institut national de la consommation (INC)