or how smart meters should also

105 Pages·2013·7.53 MB·English

NatioNal
ENErgy
ombudsmaN
Activity
RepoRt
2012
The National Energy Ombudsman is an inde- S UMMARY C F
pendent administrative authority that was
created by the law of 7 December 2006 relating A 40 coupurEs… 66 formulE du gaz…
to the energy sector, in preparation for the Disconnections… or how Gas formula… or how
daily life without light it is difficult to find
imminent liberalisation of the French gas
10 acquis… or heating affects many the magic recipe for
and electricity markets. Achievements… or how French consumers. lowering gas prices.
It has two legal roles: participating in the the Ombudsman has
moved the goalposts 42 coNcErtatioN… 69 fiNaNcE s…
process of informing consumers about their
in the public interest. Consultation… or how or how to best manage
rights, and recommending solutions for
to improve consumer public resources.
settling disputes. 17 activité… rights through dialogue.
Activity… or how teams G
The Ombudsman reports directly to the
have worked tirelessly. 45 coNfusioN…
French Parliament.
or how ambiguity
21 accord amiablE… can affect consumers. 74 gazpar…
Amicable agreement… or how the
or how to settle 48 chèquE éNErgiE… communicating
disputes differently. Energy voucher… gas meter project
or how to help people is making headway.
23 arrêté facturEs… struggling to pay their
H
Billing decree… bills.
or how to improve
consumer information. D 78 hEurEs plEiNEs,
hEurEs crEusEs…
B
52 débat NatioNal Peak hours, off-peak
sur la traNsitioN hours... or how to
28 baromètrE éNErgétiquE… consume electricity
éNErgiE-iNfo… National debate the smart way.
Baromètre Énergie-Info on energy transition...
report... or how anxious or how to prepare the
French consumers are low-energy society of
struggling to unders- the future.
tand their options.
E
30 boNus/malus…
or how to encourage
60 éNErgiE-iNfo…
French households
or how the Ombudsman
to conserve energy.
and the French Energy
33 buzz… Regulation Commission
or what has the Ombuds- are helping consumers
man been up to in 2012? to find their way.
2 3
I L P R T XY
82 impayés… 98 liNky… 124 précarité 152 réclamatioNs… 170 tarifs… 196 xy…
Unpaid bills… or how smart meters éNErgétiquE… Complaints… or how Tariffs… or how to cope or gender distribution
or how to put pressure should also benefit Fuel poverty… or how the operators are with the inevitable rise within the institution.
on consumers. consumers. to make progress on gradually improving. in prices.
Z
an issue that is a priori-
8c4o imNmfoErrcmiaatliEomNEsNt 102 litigE… ty for national solidarity. 154 rEcommaNdatioNs… 175 taxEs…
CoisnErof Nmohsrommiwbeal rltEceiiosgana…l ll( yCp srSeoIn)v.si.is.t i iovne s DctMhoisimsp udptileaffsie…nrts .o frr ohmow a C1oc3roo0 nNh pssoruowomm ttemEor ac bptterEiototutNeerrc ds tpiE…orsno …te ct Romrea chonom rwem steohnlevd eOastm idobinsusp…dus t-es. oooinrfn c ih boteomimlwlps it rsihesee hdb me ednceusodlimtbuiltcieunt.idgoe n s oct2ha0r en0h Ozoreowmfre cbrrou oand… css aumsmea entor.s
can hinder investiga- S
them against busi- U
tions. 201 zoom…
nesses.
108 médiatioN… or how to contact
J 162 sollEN…
Mediation... or how the 134 prEscriptioN… or how to resolve 180 uNioN EuropéENNE… the Ombudsman.
French exception is Back billing time limit… disputes via the Internet. European Union…
88 JusticE… illustrated in the deve- or how to limit the time or how Brussels had to to rEad
or how an independent lopment of mediation. period during which 163 satisfactioN… accept a compromise thE qr codEs
ombudsman is not an back billing is allowed. or how a large majority regarding mediation. > Download a QR code
N reader onto your mobile
adversary of the courts. of consumers
phone
138 partENariats… appreciate the work V
K 114 NEoN… Partnerships… or how of the Ombudsman. > Scan the QR code
with the camera
or how the 1 + 1 = 3.
o94r hKvoaw… to measure EInudreoppeenande Nnett Ewnoerrkg oy f Q D16e5b st udrisEtNredsEst…tE omrE Nt… G18r6e evnE…rt oE…r how to >on t yhoeu wr epbh opnaege opens
real-time electricity Ombudsman is growing. how certain practices choose the colour
consumption. 144 qualité can have dramatic of your electricity.
O
dE fourNiturE… consequences. W
95 KWh…
Supply quality… or how
or how to measure
118 orgaNisatioN… to manage unexpected
energy usage. or how to do more problems with the grid. 192 Watt & moi…
and better with less. or how to track your
consumption online.
4 5
dENis mErvillE EDITORIAL Since I was appointed new-generation Linky meter, or the energy
as the National Energy transition—as well as supplier operations.
Ombudsman in 2007, a lot of progress has The Ombudsman has also played a role
been made. in bringing the issue of fuel poverty into the
In five years, the institution has become a national arena. During a period of sharp
fixture in the energy landscape. Thanks to rises in electricity and gas prices coupled
the independence that comes with an irre- with a major economic and social crisis, it
National energy
ombudsman vocable and non-renewable mandate, I have has been my duty to ring the warning bells
defended an ambitious vision of the public and put forward solutions to help the most
ombudsman working for the benefit of all, vulnerable households. Progress has been
with a permanent objective of finding the made in this area, although much remains
middle ground between the undeniable to be done.
constraints of energy suppliers and the need We have a duty to inform, advise and
to protect consumers. protect consumers, and our approach is
The institution has become an essential the result of the work of a motivated team,
player in the regulation of the sector, a role which draws strength from its diversity and,
which certain parties had not expected it to now, from its experience. France has become
take on. A great deal has been achieved, such a European leader in efficient and well-res-
as the instigation of ‘reversibility’, where pected amicable dispute resolution, at the
consumers have the right to return to regu- service of the wider community. The system
lated tariffs without conditions applying, and is likely to be extended to cover various other
faster reimbursements of any overpayments. consumer sectors throughout the European
These achievements have given consumers Union, driven by a Directive that is applicable
greater confidence in a market that has been from 2015.
open to competition since 2007. From impro- This year, our activity report has adopted
ving the complaint processing procedure to a somewhat original, but very informative,
enhancing the attention paid to consumers’ format: an abc which, from Achievements
needs by suppliers, we have played a part in to Zoom, allows us to take a look back at
ensuring that consumers are placed at the the highlights of 2012 and to summarise the
heart of public energy policies —such as the great energy challenges that we have worked
on since 2007.
6 7
acquis... accord amiablE...
Achievements… or how Amicable agreement…
the Ombudsman has or how to settle disputes
moved the goalposts differently.
in the public interest.
arrêté facturEs...
activité... Billing decree… or how
Activity… or how teams to improve consumer
have worked tirelessly. information.
A
ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS
ACHIEVEMENTS or how the Ombuds- suppliers only reimbursed overpayments of datEs of kEy
man has moved the less than 15 euros when customers made deli- achiEvEmENts

goalposts in the public interest > Since it was berate and repeated claims for them to do
2 010
created, the National Energy Ombudsman so. This achievement was obtained in two
has put forward strong proposals to reconcile stages: the nome law of December 2010 sti-
the right for
French consumers with the energy market, pulates that when a contract is terminated,
consumers to switch
which was opened to competition in 2007. the supplier must send the final bill within
back to regulated
Although these proposals have taken time four weeks then has a further two weeks to electricity and gas
to become law, they now represent unques- reimburse any overpayment. The billing de- tariffs without
conditions.
tionable progress for consumers. Since 2010, cree of April 2012 specifies the conditions for
any consumer who has signed up to a market reimbursement on live contracts. (See Billing the social tariff
offer of electricity or gas has the right to re- decree) for electricity becomes
accessible to a larger
turn to the regulated tariffs at any time and The Ombudsman has always believed
number of low-income
without any delay. 1 For Denis Merville, this that informed and responsible consumers households.
measure, which he has always defended, are in a better position to make enlightened
consumers can check
“was necessary to restore confidence in the ope- choices, and has therefore campaigned for
the coefficient used
ration of a complex market that citizens were greater transparency. One of its priorities
to convert gas from
finding difficult to understand.” has been to give consumers the possibility m³ to kWh
Another cause that we have championed? of checking energy bills based on estima-
The rapid and automatic reimbursement ted meter readings. In 2010, a first point was
of overpayments, which was the subject of satisfied with the publication on the grdf
1 The nome law many generic recommendations. Our first website of details about the coefficient used
(Nouvelle organisa-
activity report already highlighted unaccep- to convert m³ of gas into kWh, which varies
tion du marché de
l’électricité / New table practices and suggested that late pay- according to the season and the region. Fur-
organisation of the
electricity market) ment penalties were imposed, to encourage ther significant progress was made with the
Law of 7 December
suppliers to alter their procedures. At the billing decree, such as the publication of the
2010 which intro-
duced reversibility time, certain suppliers were taking many data used to calculate and estimate bills, as
without a time lapse
or conditions, for months to reimburse sums that sometimes well as the date and the description of the
both gas and electri-
amounted to hundreds of euros, whilst other technical interventions carried out by the
city consumers.
10 11
ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS
datEs of kEy distribution system operator. Amended bills has increased from 290,000 to 350,000. The datEs of kEy
achiEvEmENts are now much easier to read, as they contain decree of December 2012 extends access to achiEvEmENts

more precise information allowing consu- these social tariffs to a further 400,000 house-
2 011 2012
mers to understand them better. (See Billing holds. Lastly, the Energy Act of 15 April 2013
decree) will allow some four million vulnerable
Quicker reimbursement Households with a
Following thorough legal investigations, households to benefit from this assistance
of overpayment when a ‘forfait cuisine’ contract
the Ombudsman has restored the rights of with paying their bills; it also sets out that
contract is terminated. are now billed once a
many thousands of consumers. the basic needs tariff should be awarded by year on the basis of their
Generalisation It analysed the decree relating to the social all energy suppliers. (See Bonus/Malus) actual consumption.
of customer meter
readings. electricity tariff, 1 and showed that the wat- The Ombudsman’s work has also made Quicker reimbursement
tage and the service charge were not criteria it possible to reduce the number of ‘forfaits of overpayment on live
possibility of for awarding the basic needs tariff (tpn, tarif cuisine’, collective fixed-price gas consump- contracts.
correcting inaccurate
de première nécessité) but rather elements tion contracts that are now nearly extinct but
meter readings in 10% reduction on the
certain cases. for calculating its value. This made it pos- still concern some 140,000 households. Not back billing amount if
sible to increase the number of beneficia- only has it been established that the refe- it results from an error
in the programming of
ries, representing at least 6,000 additional rence consumption used to calculate the
peak and off-peak hours.
low-income households each year. edf has fixed price was over-evaluated, it was also
applied the basic needs tariff without tariff or shown that these contracts are no longer in
wattage conditions since 1 July 2010 and has line with the regulations, which state that
regained 4,000 previously excluded clients, energy use must be invoiced, once a year,
who have been awarded retroactive access. based on metered consumption. In 2012, the
The attention given to the most vulne- situation was resolved with the installation
rable households has helped to increase the of meters in around 6,000 apartment buil-
number of households eligible for the so- dings, allowing the 140,000 households to be
1 The basic
needs tariff (tpn) cial tariffs. The decree of March 2012, which billed on the basis of their real consumption.
was put in place in
introduced automation, has increased the To ensure that consumers are billed as
January 2005.
number of recipients of the basic needs tariff accurately as possibly, the Ombudsman has
2 The Special
Solidarity Tariff (tss) from 650,000 to one million and the number defended the idea of allowing customer me-
was introduced in
August 2008. receiving the Special Solidarity Tariff (tss) 2 ter readings to be better taken into account.
12 13
ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS
141 A first step in this process has been made with in the three scenarios; the thresholds now applicatioN
the requirement 1 that suppliers put in place need to be set. of gENEric
generic a service for collecting these readings. The The Ombudsman was one of the first rEcommENdatioNs
recommendations
possibility for consumers to correct inaccu- bodies to highlight fuel poverty. Since its
since 2012
rate readings during connection, termina- inception, it has defended procedures that
tion or a change in supplier is progressing. are more favourable for consumers facing
60%
This has been included since 2011 for the gas financial difficulties. The Ombudsman has
connection and termination procedure on the promoted symbolic and necessary public applied or application
promised
basis of proof—an inventory for example— interest measures, such as enhanced protec-
providing the difference is greater than 50 m³. tion against disconnections for consumers 20%
Furthermore, the DSO, grdf has taken mea- acting in good faith and the creation of a
application being examined
sures to allow gas suppliers to directly take supplier of last resort for consumers who are
20%
into account customer meter readings, in refused a contract with any other supplier.
order to automatically amend their bills. Taking inspiration from these proposals, the not applied
1 This requirement
is one of the mea- In 2012, the electricity operators approved so-called Brottes law provides for a winter
sures of the nome
the principle of correcting the meter reading moratorium on disconnections. Further-
law of December 2010.
aNalysis In 2012, other improve- and/or wattage had to be tion service; the industry whose supplier is in the
examples of key ments in supplier proce- done in two stages, unless agrees with the principle process of terminating
achievements dures can be credited to a paid service was used that their information their contract is informed
the Ombudsman. When (at a cost of €25); erdf systems should be adapted by letter of the date when
a meter does not operate has agreed to improve its so that this request can be the power supply will be
correctly, a 10% reduction informat ion system to approved at no extra cost cut. The Ombudsman
is applied to the back synchronise the modifica- to the consumer. Futher- has defended the idea
bil ling amount to take tion of the meter with the more, suppliers have that a phone call from the
into account uncertaint y; change in supplier. When promised to no longer supplier, encouraging the
this also applies when a supplier has initiated a block connection requests consumer to find another
there has been an error in contract termination, any from customers who have supplier, would be a more
theprogramm ing of peak request from the consumer consumed energy without appropriate form of com-

and off-peak hours. Pre- to change suppliers is bloc- having a supplier (except munication. This sugges-
viously, changing an ener- ked and their only solution in cases of fraud). Lastly, at tion has been accepted for
gy supplier or a contract is to use a paid connec- the moment, a consumer electricity.
14 15
ACHIEVEMENTS activity
more, the law also provides to enlarge the ovErviEW of thE ENErgy markEt
scope of the Ombudsman’s activities, some-
thing that we have been calling for since the
service was created. (See Bonus/Malus)
ElEctricitY gaz
The institution has also helped to push
30,886,000 10,632,000
forward the introduction of smart meters.
delivery points delivery points
Initially, they were envisaged for the use of at 31/12/2012 at 31/12/2012
suppliers and DSOS, but the Linky project
has redirected this to make them into a tool
to help French consumers make energy
savings. The Ombudsman has consistently
campaigned for all households, including the
poorest, to have real-time access to their elec-
tricity consumption, and this persistence has MARket SHARe MARket SHARe
At 31/12/2012 At 31/12/2012
received a favourable response. (See Linky) electRicity GAz
Lastly, by dint of its existence and its
regular contact with the electricity and gas
suppliers, the Ombudsman has played an
93% 89%
important guiding role in encouraging sup-
historical historical
pliers to improve the way they handle com-
supplier supplier
plaints from their customers. The quality of 7% 11%
these internal procedures is essential, not
alternative alternative
only in respect for consumers but also to supplier supplier
ensure that mediation works correctly. The
role of an ombudsman is not to settle com-
plaints but to settle disputes, that is to say
matters where parties are unable to find an
agreement within a reasonable timeframe.
(See Complaints)
disconnEctions
580,000
consumers
experienced a reduction in wattage
or an interruption to their electricity
supply in 2012
16