Electricity price in France today
The spot price of electricity hour by hour in FR (FR), Friday, 23 October 2026.
Mainland France forms a single bidding zone, and no other country in Europe leans so heavily on nuclear power. When the reactor fleet runs well, France has cheap electricity to spare and sells it to every neighbour; when many reactors stand idle, as they did in 2022, the country imports and its wholesale price jumps. Corsica and the overseas territories sit outside this market.
What households pay follows a different logic. Millions of homes still buy power on the regulated tarif bleu, set by the government, and many market offers are expressed as a discount on it. The hourly figure on this page is therefore the wholesale signal for the mainland, not the per-kWh rate printed on most French bills.
Today electricity costs 7.3 c/kWh in FR (FR) on average.
LiveSource: Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.de
Hour by hour
The three cheapest hours in a row are 12–15 (average 0.5 c/kWh). The dearest hour is 08–09.
Show every hour as a table
| Hour | Spot price (c/kWh) | With 20% VAT | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00–01 | 14.1 | 16.9 | Dear |
| 01–02 | 12.3 | 14.7 | Dear |
| 02–03 | 4.2 | 5.1 | Middle |
| 03–04 | 0.7 | 0.8 | Cheap |
| 04–05 | 0.1 | 0.1 | Cheap |
| 05–06 | 2.0 | 2.4 | Cheap |
| 06–07 | 5.2 | 6.2 | Middle |
| 07–08 | 11.6 | 13.9 | Dear |
| 08–09 | 19.2 | 23.1 | Dear |
| 09–10 | 16.4 | 19.7 | Dear |
| 10–11 | 8.9 | 10.7 | Middle |
| 11–12 | 1.7 | 2.0 | Cheap |
| 12–13 | 0.5 | 0.6 | Cheap |
| 13–14 | 0.1 | 0.1 | Cheap |
| 14–15 | 0.8 | 1.0 | Cheap |
| 15–16 | 0.6 | 0.7 | Cheap |
| 16–17 | 1.3 | 1.6 | Cheap |
| 17–18 | 5.2 | 6.2 | Middle |
| 18–19 | 14.1 | 16.9 | Dear |
| 19–20 | 14.9 | 17.8 | Dear |
| 20–21 | 12.0 | 14.5 | Dear |
| 21–22 | 10.1 | 12.2 | Middle |
| 22–23 | 10.3 | 12.3 | Middle |
| 23–00 | 8.4 | 10.1 | Middle |
The spot price is the exchange price, the average of the hour's four quarter-hour prices, before taxes, network tariffs and VAT.
Where does the electricity in France come from right now?
Generation in France at 00:15, by energy source.
Source : RTE – éCO2mix (ODRÉ), mis à jour 23/10/2026 00:15, Licence Ouverte v2.0
Household price since 2023
Average price per kWh, all-in, for a household using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year. Source: Eurostat (nrg_pc_204).
A household in France using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 24.9 c/kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, 7% less than a year before (Eurostat).
Eurostat's figure for each half-year, with taxes, levies, network costs and VAT. Updated twice a year.
How the electricity price works in France
A regulated tariff next to the wholesale market
France's day-ahead price is set every day in the European market coupling, with one price for each period of the following day across the whole mainland. Alongside it sits the tarif réglementé de vente, offered by EDF and, in some towns, by a local distributor to homes and very small businesses with a connection of up to 36 kVA. The regulator CRE proposes its level and the government decides it, usually in February and again in August. ARENH, the scheme that forced EDF to sell part of its nuclear output to rival suppliers at a fixed price, expired at the end of 2025.
Subscription, TURPE, accise and VAT on a French bill
A bill has two parts: a fixed subscription, the abonnement, which rises with the power a household subscribes to (from 3 to 36 kVA), and a price per kWh. Both include TURPE, the network tariff that pays RTE for the high-voltage grid and Enedis or a local company for distribution. On top come the accise on electricity, 30.85 €/MWh from 1 February 2026 and 30.62 €/MWh for households from 1 August 2026, a small contribution on the subscription that funds the energy industries' pension scheme (CTA), and VAT at 20%.
Cold snaps, reactor outages and river temperatures
Electric heating is widespread in France, so demand climbs steeply in every cold spell, and a chilly January week can bring gas-fired peaking plants into play, whose costs then set the price. The other swing factor is the reactors. In 2022, stress-corrosion checks and maintenance kept much of the fleet offline, nuclear output fell to its lowest level in decades and France imported more than it exported over the year. In hot summers, plants on rivers such as the Rhône and the Garonne may have to cut output to protect the water, while rain and snowmelt decide how much hydro is available.
Fifty-seven reactors and a lot of water
France's 57 reactors, spread over 18 sites, produce the bulk of its electricity; the newest, the EPR at Flamanville, was connected to the grid in December 2024. Hydropower from dams in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Massif Central and from run-of-river plants on the Rhône and the Rhine is the second pillar and the most flexible one. Wind and solar have grown fast, and the first offshore wind farms off the Atlantic and Channel coasts are in operation. Fossil plants, mostly gas, run mainly at peak times, and coal has almost disappeared.
How France compares with its neighbours
With steady, low-carbon nuclear output, French wholesale prices are often below those in Germany, where wind, coal and gas move the price, so power usually flows east. Italy and Switzerland import French electricity across the Alps, and cables under the Channel connect France with Great Britain. To the south, the link to Spain is narrow, so only part of the Iberian solar surplus reaches France. When French reactors falter, the flows reverse and the neighbours set the price instead.
France compared with its neighbours
In 2024, nuclear made 67%, hydro made 12% and wind made 8% of the electricity generated in France. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 94% of generation in France.
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out. Switzerland: SFOE (BFE), electricity balance; storage hydro includes pumped storage.
Voltly: your own electricity price in France
Voltly shows the hourly prices in FR (FR) with taxes, network tariff and VAT, so you see what the hour really costs.
Hourly prices for your bidding zone, all-in, the cheapest hours and the price on your lock screen.
Questions about the electricity price in France
- What does electricity cost in France today?
- In FR (FR) the spot price averages 7.3 c/kWh today. It is cheapest at 04–05 with 0.1 c/kWh and dearest at 08–09 with 19.2 c/kWh. Network tariffs, taxes and VAT come on top.
- What does an ordinary household in France pay for electricity?
- A household in France using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 24.9 c/kWh per kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, according to Eurostat. The price varies with the network company and the contract.
- How much of the electricity in France comes from nuclear?
- 67% of the electricity generated in France came from nuclear in 2024 (Eurostat), the largest single source.
- What is a Tempo red day?
- Tempo is an option of EDF's regulated tariff in which the price per kWh depends on the colour of the day. Most days are blue and cheap, 43 are white and 22 are red. Red days fall only on weekdays between November and March and cost several times the blue rate. The colour of the next day is announced the day before, based on RTE's view of demand on the grid.
- Can anyone still choose the regulated tarif bleu?
- Households and very small businesses with a connection of up to 36 kVA can. It is sold by EDF and, in some municipalities, by the local distribution company. Residential customers can switch to or away from it at any time without a termination fee.
- Why can prices turn negative in a nuclear country?
- Reactors are slow and costly to throttle, and on sunny, windy spring weekends solar and wind output in France and next door can exceed demand plus what can be exported. The market then clears below zero for a few hours, because for some producers paying is cheaper than stopping. French reactors do modulate their output, which limits how often it happens.