The opening of the French gas market has reached a new milestone on 1 January 2016 with the removal of regulated tariffs for companies consuming more than 30 MWh/year and buildings consuming more than 150 MWh/year; regulated tariffs had been removed for large consumers connected to the gas transport network in June 2014 and for large consumers consuming more than 200 MWh/year in January 2015. As of 1 January 2016, only households and small businesses are eligible for regulated gas tariffs.
This measure affects 108,000 sites, which will have to subscribe to a market offer; on 21 December 2015, still 33,600 users had not subscribed such a market offer and will be transferred to a 6-month transitory tariff proposed by historical suppliers (mainly ENGIE) with a 5% surcharge compared to the regulated tariff.
New gas suppliers such as EDF, Eni or Direct Energie should benefit from the removal of regulated tariffs: Eni estimates the business segment at 65,000 subscribers (out of a total 600,000 gas clients in France), while EDF and Direct Energie claim 10,000 business subscribers.
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