You're No Good For Me But Baby I Want You, I Want You

In earlier posts I mentioned signing up with EDF. EDF is big in France, and I am someone who always chooses stability and name recognition every time. What’s more legit than Électricité de France? 

Well turns out I should have done my research.

I have EDF, and I can be away from home. As I mentioned before I have a Linky in my home, which is really great for that, but at some point my Linky stopped reporting. I wasn't aware. And I ended up getting a bill from EDF that was astronomical. There was no way an empty apartment could have used that much electricity. 

So I went to my women's group to ask them for advice, because I wasn't sure what to do. Obviously I had to pay the bill no matter what, but I wanted some clarification on what all of the charges were for, and if there was anything I could do to fight some of them. That's when I was told that I needed to stop using EDF, because they were/are ‘the most expensive’, and I should instead use Total.

Yeah I’m a little confused too on how some electric companies can be “more expensive” than others. Do electricity companies set their own rates and EDF is Dior and Total is H&M? Is one electricity better than the other so they charge more? I’m sure there’s some explanation for rates and kilowatts and grids and blah, blah, blah, but I don’t care. 

Total is a big company in France too. They used to be a petroleum company, but had rebranded themselves to become Total Energy. That's why I had never considered them; I knew them as gas. I decided to check them out after being given the advice that they were much cheaper. 

I come from an American city where we only have one energy company. They hold the monopoly, and there is no such thing as "cheaper" electricity. I was pretty confused by how Total could be "40% cheaper", but I ended up being impressed that they promised 100% clean energy. In France they’re big on nuclear energy, and as an American that has never sat well with me. I would actually pay more to ensure it comes from wind or solar. Being guaranteed that they were cheaper (per their website) and being 100% clean? Sure, sign me up. 

A girl in my women's group sent this to everyone asking why their EDF bills are so high

After asking EDF about my bill, and being told that my Linky had stopped reporting so they had "guessed" my bill, I decided a switch was to occur. It was one thing to "guess" my bill, it was another not to let me know that there was an issue. They even told me that they would have to send a technician out, but they didn't seem to care when that would occur because they were going to charge me whatever they wanted in the meantime. 

I’m not cheap, and I am by no means a penny pincher. Things cost money I pay for them, who cares, it’s just money. But I didn’t like their cavalier attitude to making up their own rules. It would be different if I had a grow house in my apartment, and I was making the grid spike, but I am conscientious energy consumer who is aware of my first world privilege and I try to use sustainably. 

I cannot yet tell you if Total is in fact cheaper, because I pay the flat rate, but it's something to look into. I guess it's normal to shop around in France. You can also look into service from Enegie as an alternative too.