Energy check: last day of a campaign marked by difficult catch-ups

Unless there is a last minute reversal, households eligible for the 2024 energy check have until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to submit their request at an online counter, the effectiveness of which has been contested by several players in the sector, who are calling for additional delays.

A first round of 5.5 million checks was automatically distributed in April. Since then, eligible households, but missed by the first shipment for administrative reasons, can request their assistance on the digital platform chequeenergie.gouv.fr.

Nearly 122,500 checks had been issued as of December 27 via the counter, for an average amount of 136 euros, according to official figures obtained by AFP.

Around 10% of this aid is “additional checks” intended for people who have already received a check, but whose situation has changed since last year, specifies the office of the Minister responsible for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci.

“To date, it is likely that we have barely exceeded 12% of checks awarded in relation to the estimated million new beneficiaries”deplores Françoise Thiebaut, energy coordinator at the National Council of Secular Family Associations (Cnafal).

“It is difficult to know precisely how many people have not yet benefited from aid”estimates the minister’s office for its part.

One million beneficiaries potentially affected

Distributed since 2018, the energy check helps low-income citizens (reference tax income below 11,000 euros for a single person) to pay their energy bills and certain energy renovation work.

This system benefits, depending on the year, around 5.7 million households, according to figures from the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees).

Originally, this aid of between 48 and 277 euros was allocated by cross-referencing tax service data and housing tax data, which made it possible to verify that two people from the same tax household do not receive it. at the same time.

But when the housing tax was abolished in 2023, this crossing became impossible.

“What the public authorities decided for 2024 was to automatically reallocate the energy check to all those who had received it in 2023, which made it possible to make an automatic payment”explains to AFP Frédérique Fériaud, general director of the Energy Mediator, an independent authority.

But what about the new potential beneficiaries?

“Each year, it is estimated that a million people fall outside the target of beneficiaries because their income has increased, and a million who fall back in”she adds. “This is why this catch-up platform was set up. But as expected, it did not have the expected success. »

Around twenty players in the sector, including Cnafal and the National Federation of Granting Authorities and Management Authorities (FNCCR), had formulated in mid-October “strong fears”warning of the lack of communication around the digital platform and the difficulty for affected households to register.

Towards an additional delay?

“We are talking about the first two deciles of the population (the lowest 20%, Editor’s note), who do not necessarily know where to get help and who do not always have access to the internet or a computer”explains Françoise Thiebaut, from Cnafal.

“They often have a phone but it’s not easy to do these things on a smartphone”she adds.

To help these people, a draft decree extending access to the digital platform until March 31 has emerged.

This project received, on December 19, a favorable opinion from the Higher Energy Council, the consultative body bringing together the main stakeholders in the sector responsible for advising the public authorities.

But since then, the Barnier government has given way to the Bayrou administration. With a ministerial reorganization as a bonus.

The energy portfolio, previously within the Ministry of Ecological Transition, is now attached to Bercy.

“It complicates things”judge Ms. Thiebaut, who nevertheless observes a resurgence of actions in this final stretch and hopes for an order “so that everything is really secure”.

Minister Ferracci’s office says it follows “closely the evolution of demands” but did not confirm the possibility of an extension of the platform.