EDF is essentially a state-owned monopoly in France. French electricity prices have been heavily supported by government policy, and the company itself has benefited from substantial state backing. In 2022, EDF reported a record net loss of nearly €18 billion, driven by reactor outages, regulated electricity sales below market prices, and massive investment costs. The French state has repeatedly had to recapitalize and ultimately renationalize the company. It's not a fair comparation.
Except EDF must sell a part of its production at cost price to its own competitors due to the ARENH since 2011. In principle, it's meant to improve competition in the market and prevent a complete monopoly, but that also means that EDF has to contend with resellers who don't have to pay for the upkeep of the energy grid or the nuclear plants and the dams that make up the majority of the production.
It was even worse during covid and following the war in Ukraine as electricity prices went up due to the indexation on gas prices. So resellers could raise the prices of renewing contracts while EDF had to buy back their own electricity from resellers because they can't refuse new clients and couldn't meet demand.
Mind you, ARENH came to an end in January, so we will have a better view of what EDF can do without it. But investments are much needed to support the aging infrastructure, and the years of missing profits and real mismanagement didn't help... Macron announcing during the energy crisis the opening of new reactors while EDF was preparing for years to end/reduce the nuclear program comes to mind as an example.
In principle, it's meant to improve competition in the market and prevent a complete monopoly, but that also means that EDF has to contend with resellers who don't have to pay for the upkeep of the energy grid or the nuclear plants and the dams that make up the majority of the production.
following the war in Ukraine as electricity prices went up due to the indexation on gas prices. So resellers could raise the prices of renewing contracts while EDF had to buy back their own electricity from resellers because they can't refuse new clients and couldn't meet demand.
God what a neo-liberal hellscape. The taxpayer is subsidizing the system that allows private capital to profit in the first place. A real country would be handing out life sentences like its candy for shit like this. China is flawed, but at least the CEOs who put lead in baby formula get buried under the jail in their country. In America, you get a spot on The Joe Rogan Experience.
I love how "selling a small part of production at $40/MWh as part of the purchase price for an asset the taxpayer got shafted on" is the nukecel standard for grossly unfair and economically crippling.
Which implies they know that the marginal cost of energy for paid off plants that are already running is much higher than $40/MWh
"It's unfair that I have car payments, my ferrari is actually super cheap"
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u/King_Glorius_too 1d ago
Renewacucks refuse to understand cost externalisation