The French government will scrap six energy efficiency programmes funded through energy savings certificates to finance a national heat pump push, prompting widespread local backlash.
The Ministry of Energy confirmed the move following reporting by Politico, which revealed that several state energy reduction mechanisms would not be renewed. Officials insisted the decision was in no way a budget cut, framing it instead as a prioritisation of resources towards the most effective decarbonisation devices.
Ministers plan to divert 100 million euros each year into an electrification strategy designed to end dependence on fossil fuels such as gas, oil and heating fuel. The government unveiled the first measures before the summer and a second package in mid-October, arguing that fossil fuel reliance worsens emissions, weakens national sovereignty, and exposes households to volatile energy prices.
Reallocation of energy savings certificates
To fund the measures, the government is tapping energy savings certificates, known in France as CEE. The certificates are financed privately by energy suppliers, who are obligated under polluter-pays rules to help consumers cut energy use. Energy providers pass on part of these costs directly to household bills.
Facing constrained public finances, ministers have repeatedly used certificate funding to bankroll state initiatives. Recent uses include the MaPrimeRénov home renovation subsidy and social leasing schemes that help drivers lease electric vehicles.
The overall certificate budget stands at more than 8 billion euros a year and is already fixed for the 2026 to 2030 period. Because the fund cannot be expanded, the government chose to reallocate existing envelopes, including certificate contributions that energy suppliers have already paid out but which have not yet been spent.
School renovation cuts under ACTEE
The largest programme facing cancellation is ACTEE, which stands for Action of Local Authorities for Energy Efficiency. Overseen by the National Federation of Licensing Authorities and Public Utilities, or FNCCR, the initiative helps local councils carry out thermal renovations on public buildings and replace fossil fuel boilers with low-carbon heating.
Of the 100 million euros reclaimed each year for the electrification plan, ACTEE accounts for 70 million euros. Programme officials confirmed that on 1 January 2027, 80 per cent of its funding will be terminated and the vast majority of its operations will end.
Only a one-year transitional programme will remain, providing diagnostic audits for 2,500 schools. That figure falls well short of the targets announced before the summer during a heatwave, when the government promised climate adaptation audits for 12,500 schools.
Since 2019, ACTEE has assisted 7,800 municipalities, representing more than one in five local councils in France. The scheme currently deploys 750 engineering specialists across the country to guide local officials through complex technical decisions.
ACTEE officials explained that before replacing a heating system or adding insulation, councils must measure consumption, diagnose building defects, schedule works, and hire architects. Small rural municipalities lack in-house engineers or technical departments to manage those steps alone, leaving them dependent on external experts to launch public tenders.
Heat pump risks and municipal budgets
Danièle Mametz, the mayor of Boëseghem in the Nord department and a vice-president of the FNCCR, said renovating an elementary school was a major task spanning one or more municipal mandates. She explained that ACTEE provided the technical reassurance and expertise needed to invest funds wisely, creating vital leverage for small councils to proceed.
In Saint-Hélen, a village in the Côtes-d'Armor department, an ACTEE-funded audit enabled a school complex with 110 pupils to replace heating oil with an electric heat pump. The conversion cut energy consumption by 62 per cent, reduced carbon emissions by 91 per cent, and saved nearly 9,800 euros each year in running costs.
However, technical experts warned that removing technical support risks causing serious project failures. They advise pairing heat pumps with building insulation, cautioning that without prior structural renovations, heat pumps can end up oversized, consume excessive electricity, and generate significantly higher energy bills for local taxpayers.
Dominique Ramard, the mayor of Saint-Juvat in Côtes-d'Armor and also a vice-president of the FNCCR, told TF1info that the government's sudden pivot was alarming. He said local authorities would now probably have to use their own budgets to pay for project engineering, warning this would inevitably hurt other municipal services when buildings already generate three-quarters of local energy spending.
Vulnerable households and social housing
Five other schemes will lose their certificate funding alongside ACTEE. These include Toits d'abord, which finances renovations for social housing, and two fuel poverty initiatives: Territoires zéro exclusion énergétique, which supports vulnerable low-income households, and Slime, which identifies and assists families who fail to claim state aid.
The cancellations also eliminate Bail Rénov, a scheme that advises private landlords on rental property upgrades, and Tims, a programme dedicated to clean local transport.
Christophe Robert of the housing charity Fondation pour le logement called the cancellation a very bad decision, arguing that it eliminates measures created specifically to protect the most vulnerable people.
The advocacy coalition Collectif Rénovons warned the policy shift risks favouring simpler renovations and wealthier households, while neglecting the comprehensive thermal upgrades desperately needed by families suffering from fuel poverty.
Political backlash and the debate over sobriety
The policy has triggered strong political criticism across party lines. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the former minister for ecological transition, said she was stunned by the decision, arguing ministers cannot claim to accelerate the green transition while stripping away the support that allows poorer families to take part.
Amel Gacquerre, a senator for the centrist Union of Democrats and Independents party, described the move as an incomprehensible decision that harms fragile households and weakens businesses.
Opponents made clear they do not contest electrification itself, viewing it as an effective tool to cut carbon emissions. However, they strongly rejected setting electrification against energy sobriety.
The FNCCR emphasised that official national electrification forecasts from the French electricity transmission system operator, RTE, are built on the requirement that France must cut overall energy consumption by 40 per cent by 2050 to reach climate targets.
