PARIS (Reuters) -TotalEnergies announced plans on Tuesday to reward its French clients who reduce their electricity consumption, following government pressure to do more to help consumers tackle rising inflation and higher household bills.
The French oil major, which is also a player in the retail energy market on its home turf, said it would award a bonus to those who manage to lower their consumption by at least 5% this winter compared to one year before.
France, along with many other European countries, is trying to find ways to cut down on general energy consumption, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has driven up energy prices around the world and has also resulted in cuts to supplies of energy coming via Russia.
“This 5% decline can easily be reached by several efficient acts as suggested by TotalEnergies on its mobile app (…): lower the heating by one degree or unplug all household appliances on standby, which represent 7% and 5% decreases respectively,” the company said in a statement.
By way of example, TotalEnergies said a household with a 950 euros ($948.86) electricity bill last year can save 115 euros this year if it reduces its consumption by 10%, out of which 55 euros would be saved directly via this reduction and 60 euros via the planned bonus.
In September, the French government said power prices increases would be capped at 15% next year. Last month, it also launched a national energy savings plan, banking on a push to turn off lights and lower thermostats to avoid power and gas cuts over the winter.
($1 = 1.0012 euros)
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Clarence Fernandez/Sudip Kar-Gupta)