1985: A New Stage in the French Electricity Rates Policy.

A previous article dealt with the reasons why the French Electricity Board's (EDF) rates system is based on the principle of a sales price at the marginal cost of development. In this article, it is shown how this principle has been translated into practice. The major improvement in the rates system in the coming years will have to take more extensively into account random phenomena. In this connection, EDF has begun testing the new system with its most important customers. This system involves modulated rates for electricity supplies which aim at a precise selection of the periods for which costs are the lowest. The same reasoning has led to the option of cut-off during peak days which provides for the identification of the highest cost situations. This modulated system includes four different price levels and enables customers to use overall resources in a better way.