A survey published in September 2026 by France's High Commission for Strategy and Planning found that 35% of French households had trouble paying their energy bills over the previous 12 months, and 53% said they could not absorb an unexpected €1,000 expense. The findings land as the gas reference price rose 6.3% on October 1 and as politicians debate scrapping certificates that fund home-renovation subsidies in order to cut fuel prices.
A Third of Households Report Payment Difficulties
An EuroPulse survey commissioned by the NGO Project Tempo and published on September 30, 2026 by France's High Commission for Strategy and Planning found that 35% of French respondents had difficulty paying their energy bills at some point in the previous 12 months. The survey questioned 2,000 people in a sample described as representative of the French population, with fieldwork carried out in June 2026, before the latest round of price increases.
The same survey found that 53% of respondents said they could not absorb an unforeseen expense of €1,000, a vulnerability the report links directly to energy bills: any unexpected charge on a bill risks tipping a household into late payment. Difficulty paying energy bills was highest among 25- to 34-year-olds, at 48%.
66% of respondents said they were worried about being able to heat their home adequately this winter
59% placed the cost of living among their top five personal concerns
Only 26% said they support speeding up France's energy transition even if it raises costs, while 59% said they prefer lower prices over a faster transition
A Longer-Running Government Barometer Shows the Same Upward Trend
A separate, longer-running survey — the Médiateur de l'énergie's 2025 Baromètre énergie-info, published November 1, 2025 — found that 36% of households reported difficulty paying energy bills in the preceding 12 months. That figure is up from 28% in 2024 and 18% in 2020, according to the barometer's own historical series.
Share of French households reporting difficulty paying energy bills (Médiateur de l'énergie barometer)
Year
Share reporting payment difficulty
2020
18%
2024
28%
2025
36%
The 2025 barometer also found that 74% of households said they had restricted their heating for financial reasons, down slightly from 79% in 2023. Among recipients of the state's energy voucher (chèque énergie) who fell behind on payments, 35% reported unpaid bills and 10% experienced power cuts or reduced supply. The barometer notes that taxes and network costs make up roughly two-thirds of a household bill even as wholesale electricity prices have fallen.
Gas Prices Rose Again on October 1
France's energy regulator, the Commission de Régulation de l'Énergie (CRE), announced on September 10, 2026 that the reference gas selling price would rise by 6.3% from October 1, moving from €172.05 to €182.88 per megawatt-hour including tax.
The CRE attributed the increase to higher wholesale gas prices recorded in August compared with July. The rise directly affects households on index-linked gas contracts, while roughly 40% of residential gas customers held fixed-price contracts as of the end of 2025 and are shielded for the duration of those contracts. Because the 6.3% figure is an average across consumer profiles and regions, the CRE estimated the typical effect on an October bill at about €5.28.
A Political Fight Over Certificates That Fund Renovation Subsidies
Alongside the affordability data, a political dispute has opened over the Certificats d'Economies d'Energie (CEE), a mechanism created in 2005 that obliges energy suppliers and fuel distributors to finance energy-saving projects, including renovation subsidies under the MaPrimeRénov' scheme and electric-vehicle incentives. Bruno Retailleau, a presidential candidate for the Les Républicains party, has proposed abolishing CEE, describing it as a hidden tax on fuel, and argues the move would lower pump prices.
Retailleau's office said scrapping CEE would save drivers €8.50 per 50-liter tank fill, based on an estimated CEE cost of 17 centimes per liter. A franceinfo fact-check confirmed the arithmetic holds given that 17-centime assumption, but noted the figure itself is contested: government data cited elsewhere put the average CEE cost at around 7 centimes per liter for 2022-2025, and France's Cour des comptes (Court of Accounts) estimated roughly 7.3 centimes per liter for petrol in 2023. The higher 15-to-17-centime estimate comes from political figures and fuel distributors and has not been officially confirmed for 2026.
Opponents of scrapping CEE, including renovation-sector groups, argue the certificates are the main funding source for home-insulation and heating-upgrade subsidies, and that removing them would shift costs onto renovation budgets rather than eliminate them.
If one wants to cancel CEE, one must also cut MaPrimeRénov'. Otherwise, these are merely nice formulas.
— Thierry Bros, energy economist, quoted by franceinfo
Questions
What share of French households struggle to pay energy bills?
Two different surveys give close but not identical figures: an EuroPulse survey published September 30, 2026 found 35% of households had difficulty paying energy bills in the past year, while the Médiateur de l'énergie's 2025 barometer, published a year earlier, found 36%. Both point to roughly a third of households, with the barometer showing the share rising from 18% in 2020 to 28% in 2024 and 36% in 2025.
Why did French gas prices rise on October 1, 2026?
The energy regulator CRE raised the reference gas price by 6.3%, to €182.88 per megawatt-hour, citing higher wholesale gas prices in August compared with July.
Which households are affected by the October gas price rise?
The increase applies to households on index-linked gas offers. About 40% of residential gas customers had fixed-price contracts as of the end of 2025 and are not affected while those contracts run.
What are CEE certificates and why are they controversial?
Created in 2005, Certificats d'Economies d'Energie require energy suppliers and fuel distributors to finance energy-saving projects, including MaPrimeRénov' renovation subsidies and electric-vehicle incentives. Presidential candidate Bruno Retailleau has proposed scrapping them to cut fuel prices, while renovation-sector groups warn this would remove funding for home-energy upgrades.
Would removing CEE actually lower prices at the pump?
The math behind the claimed €8.50-per-tank saving checks out if CEE cost 17 centimes per liter, according to a franceinfo fact-check, but official estimates cited elsewhere put the real cost closer to 7 to 7.3 centimes per liter, so the size of any pump-price benefit remains disputed.
How the world is telling it
FrenchFrench outlets cover this largely as a purchasing-power story, pairing new survey data on payment difficulties with the simultaneous October gas price rise and a separate political fight over scrapping CEE certificates. Coverage leans heavily on official and regulatory sources (CRE, Médiateur de l'énergie, Cour des comptes) and frames the CEE debate as a trade-off between cheaper fuel today and renovation-subsidy funding for the future, with renovation-sector and consumer groups publicly opposing removal.
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