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Did the energy crisis that

hit Europe in 2022 come

to an end in 2024?

We cannot really say that it has ended. For the Mediation team,

2024 was almost as busy as 2023, when the number of mediation

cases doubled compared with 2022. Around 850 mediation cases

were received in 2024, an increase of 80% compared with 2022,

meaning that 1,060 cases were processed, an equivalent amount

to 2023, due to the backlog from 2023.

Why is this?

Firstly the government stopped providing aid to consumers as

well as gradually reducing the tarif f shield It can also be attrib

uted to the end of the benef icial threeyear f ixedprice contracts

taken out just before the 2022 crisis and the disappointment expe

rienced by customers when their contracts came up for renewal

postcrisis tarif fs have increased by 40 to 60 for all of them

Prices have not returned to the level they were at before the energy

crisis And f inally f ixedprice contracts taken out by professionals at

the height of the crisis are now less competitive amid falling energy

prices leading them to cancel or try and cancel their contracts

often resulting in high fees

In addition, 2024 has been dif ferent from previous years in two

respects:

- ENGIE Home Services has seen a sharp rise in mediation cases

(installation and maintenance of boilers, heat pumps, etc.): +37% in

2024 compared with 2023, bearing in mind that there had already

been a 50% increase in 2023 compared with 2022. This subsidi-

ary’s issues have led to its over-representation in overall mediation

cases, with the number of referrals increasing approximately two-

fold between 2022 and 2024.

- There has been a signif icant number of disputes involving small

businesses: the number of mediation cases remained virtually

stable between 2023 and 2024 but increased by 140% between

2022 and 2024 for the ENGIE Business Customers Division and

ENGIE Entreprises & Collectivités. It is important to remember

that “small” businesses, whose electricity meter has a power rating

of 36 kVA or less or whose gas consumption is less than 30000

kWh are subject to the provisions of the French Consumer Code

such as the 14month limit on backbilling of energy consumption

Therefore the Mediation team had to continue working in crisis

management mode to deal with the high number of mediation cases

The whole team rallied round and ENGIE provided us with additional

resources Despite the high number of referrals we worked hard to

maintain the quality of our analyses and our personalised approach

In view of the situation it was more important than ever for claim

ants to understand their situation and feel listened to

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank each of

my twelve colleagues for their hard work and commitment As a

result there has been an increase in both the level of satisfaction

97 an alltime high and the success rate of mediations 87

vs 84 in 2023

In terms of mediation, what lessons can we

learn from these two years of crisis?

Firstly, we should highlight the joint work of the Mediation team and

ENGIE, and particularly of the Consumer Division (DGP), which has

stepped up its ef forts within the customer service and national con-

sumer service departments. Thanks to their commitment, we have

been able to proactively anticipate and deal with many requests,

thus avoiding a massive inf lux of mediation referrals. The depart-

ment has therefore played a key role in ensuring that only really

complex cases requiring this last-resort form of amicable resolution

before litigation are referred to the Mediation team.

There has also been a change in the recommendations made. The

Ombudsman has issued generic recommendations, whose main

aim is to instigate a review of certain processes that were too

focused on “consumption as the explanation for rising bills.” Before

the energy price crisis, high energy bills were almost always caused

by problems with meters and consumption indexes. The proposed

recommendations, which provide real added value in terms of the

French Consumer Code, must be implemented to better account

for the shift towards “prices that explain the rise”: inform customers

as early as possible, and during the period when contractual infor-

mation is provided prior to contract renewal, of the right level of

monthly instalments for the coming year; align the annual adjust-

ment bills with contractual periods; inform customers about the

new prices, obviously, but also remind them of the prices under the

previous contract, so that they are more aware of the risks and can

get quotes from competitors, etc.

However, the Ombudsman’s ability to quickly raise awareness

among the ENGIE departments involved, at the very f irst sign of

trouble, has made the greatest impact. This process has been fol-

lowed with the DGP since late 2023. Based on a case presented

by the Ombudsman, which may demonstrate a wider breach of

certain contractual obligations, the DGP implemented key meas-

ures, awarding automatic compensation for all these contracts as

of February 2024, which greatly limited the potential escalation of

these disputes.

It is important to work together in times of crisis: Mediation

should not be the only outlet when anomalies occur, if he com-

pany is already aware of the problem.

We have gone from a culture of complaints

management that, before the crisis, focused on

increases in consumption to explain high bills,

to a culture where the sharp rise in prices alone

explains these hikes

Should the admissibility of mediation

cases be broadened to improve the

turnaround time for dispute resolution

Mediation is currently all the rage And some might think that it is

the ONLY solution for resolving all the complaints received by a

company However if complaints are sent to the mediation service

too early it will inexorably become a complaints handling service

and will no longer be able to apply the principles that make it so

ef fective: “Successful mediation hinges on proximity and attentive

listening, which means spending more time addressing disputes that

have not been resolved by the company. Customer services cannot

offer the same level of personalised service and expertise provided

by the Mediation team. Mediation therefore costs more per case than

complaints handling, unless less time is spent on building relation-

ships and attentive listening.”

Mediation should only be used to deal with complex cases. Its real

value lies in getting the company to handle its complaints properly,

not in replacing this service. While mediation is free for consumers,

it is f inanced by businesses, in accordance with the provisions of the

French Consumer Code. The Ombudsman for the ENGIE Group

thus holds ENGIE accountable for its performance, which, in this

case, should be measured by the decrease in mediation cases,

which is linked to the ef fectiveness of the recommendations for

improvement made each year to the company’s subsidiaries.

Are there going to be any changes

to the regulatory framework for

consumer mediation in France?

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive is currently

under review at the European level. Corporate mediators have

provided feedback through the European Energy Mediators Group

(EEMG), both at the European and French levels. At this stage,

their input has been considered at the European level. In particu-

lar, mediation services risk becoming complaints departments if

independent mediation bodies are transformed into “subcontrac-

tors” for handling complaints on behalf of the company. It should

also be noted that the review of this Directive does not include the

principle of a waiting period prior to the appointment of a consumer

ombudsman. This would be counterintuitive in terms of the tech-

nical expertise required of an ombudsman, which is ref lected in

the solutions proposed. This knowledge of technical energy pro-

cesses, as well as billing, meter reading and the Energy Code, must

be associated with legal skills and an in-depth understanding of the

Consumer Code.

What is the outlook

for 2025?

Since November 2024, we have seen a sharp drop in the number of

referrals That would seem to conf irm that the crisis is coming to

an end Obviously I hope to return to a normal mode of operation

and move away from crisis management The aim for the ENGIE

Group Mediation team is to continue reducing the volume of

complaints on the ENGIE supplier side thus reducing the overall

number of complaints In 2023 we noted that the number of simple

complaints which can be handled directly by the Consumer Division

had fallen from 30 to 23 This downward trend is set to continue

Additionally the Mediation team is advocating for early consultation

before introducing new of fers or processes focusing on preven

tion rather than just remediation Finally in 2025 the Mediation

team hopes that its new online referral form will improve the quality

control process for referral admissibility by excluding inadmissi

ble referrals We are facilitating access to mediation by adapting to

new uses while at the same time improving the mediation conver

sion rate

A look back

at 2024

Reading time:

4 MINUTES

JEAN-PIERRE HERVÉ,

Ombudsman for the ENGIE Group.

“The 2022 energy crisis

has continued into 2024!”

View all activity

reports by

the Ombudsman

for the ENGIE Group

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