Peak demand for electricity could remain permanently lower than before the crisis

Electricity demand did not exceed 80 GW when temperatures dropped in mid-January in France. This was 9 to 10 GW less than the average demand in recent years for similar temperatures. This lower consumption at peak seems to reflect a change in the behaviour of residential consumers during the crisis, which could be lasting. If this were the case, this change in behaviour would have a significant impact on electricity market prices in France, which traditionally incorporate a risk premium linked to the difficulty for the French electricity system to "get through the winter" when temperatures are low, a difficulty linked in particular to the weight of electric heating, which results in a high temperature sensitivity of electricity demand in winter.