PARIS (Reuters) - Corporate French gas or power buyers who have not switched from regulated tariffs to a market-based offer by July 1 will be assigned a new supplier selected by energy market regulator CRE, CRE said in a statement on Tuesday.
Following the opening of French energy markets to competition, non-residential energy buyers are forced to chose a new supplier, but at the start of this month some 36,000 of 468,000 corporate power customers and 10,500 out of 108,000 corporate gas customers were still on contracts with former monopoly suppliers EDF (PA:EDF) and Engie.
Following a tender, the CRE has selected several alternative energy suppliers to whom customers who have not switched by July 1 will be automatically assigned.
For the power market, these new suppliers include alternative supplier Direct Energie, Energies Libres, Engie, Hydroption, Germany's Uniper as well as EDF.
For the gas market, these new suppliers include Antargaz, Direct Energie, Italy's Eni, ES Gaz, Gaz de Bordeaux as well as Engie.
The CRE did not specify to what extent the allocations would change the companies' respective market shares.