British pensioners face their worst winter on record – just as bills fall in France

Costs to fall €200 for French households while elderly Britons pay £500 more

Millions of French households will see their energy bills fall this winter thanks to falling global fuel prices, but bills in Britain will rise by 10pc.
The French regulator last week confirmed that electricity bills for households on the state-regulated tariff would drop by up to 15pc. Meanwhile, prices for British billpayers will surge from October due to a change in the energy price cap.
Energy bills for Britons will be lower than last winter, when a typical household paid £1,834 for gas and electricity. But between the absence of cost-of-living support paid to all households last year and Rachel Reeves’s decision to axe winter fuel payments, elderly households are expected to face their worst winter on record with costs rising by around £500.
Most households in France are signed up to EDF’s tariff bleu, which is regulated by the national regulator, la Commission de régulation de l’énergie. Last week, the French regulator said households could expect to see a reduction in their bills from February.
This means a family paying an annual electricity bill of €2,000 (£1,690) would save at least €200 from February onwards, the CRE said.
In Britain, energy regulator Ofgem announced last month a typical household bill would rise from £1,568 a year to £1,717. Analysts predict the cap will rise again to £1,762 in January.
Ofgem’s energy price cap is adjusted once every three months to reflect the wholesale market, while the CRE reviews the tariff bleu twice a year.
Dr Craid Lowery, of analyst Cornwall Insight, said a “volatile wholesale market” and Britain’s heavy reliance on imported energy had created “a perfect storm for households”.
France has also maintained a state-backed cap on energy bills for far longer than Britain. Unlike Britain’s Energy Price Guarantee, introduced by Liz Truss during her short premiership and removed last year, France’s cap on energy prices is only just being phased out.
EDF was nationalised by President Emmanuel Macron in 2022. That same year, the company was forced to take an €84bn (£7bn) hit after Macron ordered the energy giant to limit price rises to just 4pc.
It was also made to sell some of the electricity it generated to smaller competitors at a cut price, ensuring households not signed up to tariff bleu were shielded from higher bills. Around 17.5 million French households and businesses are not tied to a regulated tariff.
Energy prices across Europe soared during this time, as France’s nuclear output dropped to a record low. Several reactors affected by stress corrosion were shut down for repairs.
Despite pressure from the regulator to raise prices by 74.5pc last year, the French government only raised prices by 10pc. In Britain, bills have consistently fallen every three months since January last year, reaching a two-year low of £1,568 a year in July.
France’s nuclear output has recovered as its reactors came back online – boosting the country’s output to a three-year high in April.
Marco Forgione, director general at the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade, said Britain would struggle to keep household bills low while it continued to import vast quantities of energy.
In 2022 the UK imported 37pc of its primary energy, with gas imports reaching an all-time high, according to the Department for Energy Security.
By contrast, Mr Forgione said France, which is a net producer of energy, would continue to see bills fall, especially with its nuclear reactors running again.
He added: “Even though the government support is being removed in France, their prices will lower, while the energy price cap in Britain is set to rise.”
Energy Secretary Ed Milliband is in the process of setting up Britain’s own national energy firm, GB Energy. In July Sir Keir Starmer announced the company’s first major partnership with the Crown Estate, which the prime minister hopes will unlock billions of investment in green power.
Speaking at the launch of the company, Sir Keir said: “It is an ambitious goal – it would put us ahead of any major economy in the world.
“But at the moment, we’re nowhere near the front of the pack and this is a race we have to win.”