End of the price shield: a gas tax almost doubled on January 1 for suppliers

Few know it but it is one of the taxes paid by natural gas suppliers: the excise will almost double on January 1, 2024, concretizing the exit from the tariff shield announced by the government, according to a decree published on Saturday in the Official Journal . If this tax increase was planned, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire indicated on September 14 that it would “have no impact on the consumer”.

The normal excise rate on natural gas for fuel use, which has replaced the internal consumption tax on natural gas since 2022, will increase to 16.37 euros per megawatt hour from January 1, compared to 8.45 euros currently. , according to the decree. This price corresponds to the ceiling authorized by the 2024 finance law, published the same day in the Official Journal.

And this, in a context where the executive has been organizing for several months the gradual exit from the tariff shield, deployed since the end of 2021 to moderate the impact on consumers of the surge in gas and electricity prices. Since July 1, there are no longer regulated gas sales tariffs (TRVG), which allowed the government to directly limit price increases. Instead, a “benchmark” price from the Energy Regulatory Commission, updated monthly, should serve as a guide, based on market prices.

Another increase for gas is also looming, this time with a consequence on the price paid by subscribers: the gas distribution rate, which accounts for around a quarter of the final bill, will increase on July 1, 2024. The Regulatory Commission of energy must determine by how much, by the beginning of January. Concerning electricity, no new tax increase has been published in the Official Journal. The government must raise the regulated tariff in February but has committed to ensuring that the increase is less than 10% compared to the August 2023 level.