French homeowners who refused to install Linky metre may face fees
The French electricity service provider has announced that households who chose not to be equipped with the new Linky electricity metre may be subject to additional charges starting on January 1st, 2023.
Starting on January 1st, 2023, anyone who refused to have a Linky metre (smart electricity metre) installed at their French property risks having to pay additional fees.
For the approximately 3.8 million households in France who declined to have the metre installed, the head of Enedis, France's electricity distribution service, told Franceinfo that they will be subject to charges "for the specific management of the reading of old generation metres" - or the cost of having to send a technician to provide a reading.
These fees would equate to approximately €8.48 every two months, or about €61 additionally per year. However, the additional costs would be discontinued in the event that a Linky metre is installed.
Who will have to pay the extra fees?
The extra charges apply specifically to households who have refused to have the metre put in - so those who could not have a Linky metre installed for technical reasons will not be penalised.
Those who have refused the Linky metre, but continued to send their yearly electricity metre reading to Enedis will not be charged extra fees in 2023. However, if by January 2025 those households are still not equipped with a Linky metre, they could become subject to fines as well, according to the French government website Service-Public.
What is a Linky metre?
The Linky metre is a "smart" electricity metre that measures household electricity consumption in real time. Enedis sought to transition the majority of the country to Linky metres, in an effort to simplify procedures, remove the need for an in-person metre reading, and provide more accurate readings based on individual consumption per month. In essence - the Linky metre transmits electricity consumption directly to the supplier.
An image of the metre can be seen below:
A Linky metre (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
Throughout 2021, the majority of French households - 90 percent - were equipped with a Linky metre free of charge, and in 2022 Enedis installed an additional one million metres.
However, as of December 2022, approximately 10 percent of the French public still did not have the new electricity metre. Some refused to install the Linky metre due to concerns around privacy, while others cited health fears surrounding electricity waves, a stance that several French courts have rejected due to lack of medical evidence.
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Starting on January 1st, 2023, anyone who refused to have a Linky metre (smart electricity metre) installed at their French property risks having to pay additional fees.
For the approximately 3.8 million households in France who declined to have the metre installed, the head of Enedis, France's electricity distribution service, told Franceinfo that they will be subject to charges "for the specific management of the reading of old generation metres" - or the cost of having to send a technician to provide a reading.
These fees would equate to approximately €8.48 every two months, or about €61 additionally per year. However, the additional costs would be discontinued in the event that a Linky metre is installed.
Who will have to pay the extra fees?
The extra charges apply specifically to households who have refused to have the metre put in - so those who could not have a Linky metre installed for technical reasons will not be penalised.
Those who have refused the Linky metre, but continued to send their yearly electricity metre reading to Enedis will not be charged extra fees in 2023. However, if by January 2025 those households are still not equipped with a Linky metre, they could become subject to fines as well, according to the French government website Service-Public.
What is a Linky metre?
The Linky metre is a "smart" electricity metre that measures household electricity consumption in real time. Enedis sought to transition the majority of the country to Linky metres, in an effort to simplify procedures, remove the need for an in-person metre reading, and provide more accurate readings based on individual consumption per month. In essence - the Linky metre transmits electricity consumption directly to the supplier.
An image of the metre can be seen below:
Throughout 2021, the majority of French households - 90 percent - were equipped with a Linky metre free of charge, and in 2022 Enedis installed an additional one million metres.
However, as of December 2022, approximately 10 percent of the French public still did not have the new electricity metre. Some refused to install the Linky metre due to concerns around privacy, while others cited health fears surrounding electricity waves, a stance that several French courts have rejected due to lack of medical evidence.
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