Particle.news
Download on the App Store

RTE Designates New Year’s Eve a ‘Red Day’ for EDF Tempo Users, Raising Peak-Hour Prices

The grid operator uses the Tempo color code to curb winter demand by making a limited number of days far more expensive.

Overview

  • RTE labeled 31 December a red day, the first New Year’s Eve since 2020 to carry the higher-rate designation, prompting both complaints and defenses from Tempo subscribers online.
  • About 875,000 of EDF’s 23 million customers on Tempo face higher charges, with peak-hour kilowatt-hour prices reaching roughly triple the normal rate.
  • For this red day, billing runs from 06:00 Wednesday to 06:00 Thursday, peak hours end at 22:00, and under Tempo rules the 00:00–06:00 period following a red day may still be billed at red rates even if the next day is white.
  • Tempo limits red days to 22 between 1 November and 31 March, excludes weekends and public holidays, and caps runs at five consecutive days.
  • EDF says Tempo users cut consumption by about 23% on red days and urges shifting appliance use, lowering heating by 1°C, and delaying nonessential electricity use until after 22:00.