The European energy system has been under severe strain and the French energy system has not been spared. Deliveries of Russian gas via pipeline have fallen sharply and LNG has not yet increased enough to cover the shortfall. At the same time, half of nuclear plants are in maintenance and climatic conditions and drought have reduced hydropower production. The result is soaring energy prices which are squeezing family budgets.
The energy companies in France are doing their bit by implementing short-term actions to respond to this emergency. This includes the diversification of gas supplies, the proactive filling of storage facilities, the ongoing installation of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the port of Le Havre to speed up LNG imports, as well as the re-commissioning of “mothballed” facilities.
Now they’re calling for consumers to take immediate action to reduce their energy use. The CEOs of Engie, EDF and TotalEnergies in France have launched a joint appeal in response to concern over winter shortages of gas and electricity.
In an open letter published by the French weekly newspaper ‘Journal du Dimanche’ Engie’s Catherine MacGregor, EDF’s Jean-Bernard Levy and TotalEnergies’ Patrick Pouyanne said…
“We need to work collectively to reduce our consumption in order to regain room to manoeuvre. We will need it to manage future peaks in consumption and to cushion any technical hazards or geopolitical shocks that we may have to face. Acting this summer will enable us to be better prepared to tackle next winter and in particular to preserve our gas reserves.”
“We must initiate a major energy efficiency program and a national waste hunt. The effort must be immediate, collective and massive. Every gesture counts. And make no mistake: saving energy means increasing purchasing power and also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The intention is good but…it’s just an intention. What’s the plan, really?
How we can help
What’s required is a coordinated customer engagement programme based on a nudge approach to encourage customers to change their behaviors and reduce their consumption.
‘Nudging’ is a proven behavioral science based approach and it forms the basis of Advizzo’s successful customer engagement strategies and solutions. It’s based on the theory that people are often unable to make good decisions when they lack experience, context, knowledge, or are overcome with inertia.
With a plug and play customer engagement solution from Advizzo, we can save France’s energy suppliers years of planning, testing and development, and months of recruitment and training. Instead, Advizzo’s software and solutions provide energy companies with the opportunity to deploy proven and tested behavioral science based solutions that improve customer satisfaction, whilst reducing risks and cost to serve. You can read more about this in our ‘Build versus Buy’ blog.
Get in touch to find out more or book your free demo – and discover just how quickly we can help your customers to save energy!