Promulgation of the Energy Transition Act: implications and opportunities

The Energy Transition Act sets ambitious targets. It includes measures for businesses in construction, energy, employee mobility and waste management.

Marie Faucon
EHS Consultant
Update : 
12.09.2025
Publication: 
09.04.2015
Contents
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After a legislative process lasting almost a year, the Energy Transition Law for Green Growth was finally promulgated in the middle of summer. Achieving the ambitious targets set out in this text for reducing our country's energy consumption and greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions will largely depend on the measures included in the new governance tools provided for by the law, foremost among which are the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC) and the Multi-Year Energy Plan (PPE).

However, a number of concrete provisions have already been included among the 215 articles following the promulgation of the Energy Transition Act. Here's a look at the main ones that could affect businesses.

Concrete provisions likely to affect companies

Building construction and renovation projects

Without going into all the provisions likely to be of interest to the building sector - measures designed in particular to accelerate the energy renovation of the national building stock, or to encourage the construction of positive-energy public buildings with high environmental performance - several new features in the law may have a direct impact on companies' future real estate projects. These include

  • The obligation to provide charging stations for electric vehicles and a space reserved for secure bicycle parking, in the event of the construction or renovation of an employee parking lot, has been strengthened and clarified (Art. 41). Applicable since 2012 to tertiary buildings, this scheme will be reviewed and extended to industrial buildings and commercial complexes from January1, 2017. A new implementing decree will specify the parking lots concerned, according to their type (closed/open) and capacity, as well as the minimum number of spaces to be equipped with charging stations.
  • The certificate of compliance with thermal regulations, which must be attached to the declaration of completion of work submitted to the town hall on completion of the construction of office buildings, can be issued by any organization certifying the energy performance of buildings that has signed an agreement with the French government. This formality will thus be simplified for project owners opting for the construction of certified buildings with energy performances that exceed the requirements of thermal regulations (Art. 15).
  • The local urban development plan (PLU) may, in certain defined areas (notably urban development zones), impose a minimum production of renewable energy, depending on the characteristics of the construction project and the energy consumption of the sites concerned (Art. 8).
  • From now on, it will be possible to obtain an exemption from the requirements laid down by town planning regulations concerning the location, height and external appearance of buildings, with a view to implementing certain insulation solutions on the facade or roof of buildings (Art. 7).

Energy supplies

The French Energy Transition Act provides for the granting of special electricity supply conditions for high-consumption companies, known as "electro-intensive consumers" (Art. 156). These special conditions, and the categories of companies benefiting from them, will be defined by decree, according to the following criteria:

  • degree of exposure to international competition
  • annual electricity consumption volume
  • ratio of electricity consumed to value added produced
  • industrial processes used

In return, beneficiary companies will have to implement an ISO 50 001-certified energy management system and achieve energy performance targets yet to be defined. As a reminder, a comparable scheme has already been set up for gas-intensive consumers, who logically belong to the same sectors as electro-intensive consumers: steel, chemicals, glass and paper industries in particular.

Electricity and gas intensive consumers will also benefit from a reduction in their tariffs for use of the public electricity and gas networks [1], on the grounds that their stable and predictable consumption throughout the year enables them to absorb fluctuations in demand (Art. 157 and 159). The percentage reduction, as well as the eligibility criteria, will be set by decree.

Employee travel

The Energy Transition Act provides for a number of measures in this area that are worth highlighting:

  • As of January1, 2018, any company with at least 100 employees on a single site in a conurbation with a population of over 100,000, and subject to an urban travel plan (PDU), will be required to draw up a mobility plan, in order to optimize the efficiency of staff travel, and encourage the use of public transport and car-sharing. Forwarded to the local transport authority, this plan must assess existing and future transport services, analyze work-related and home-to-work travel by employees, and define a program of actions, together with a financing plan and an implementation schedule (Art. 51).
  • More generally, the enactment of the Energy Transition Act now requires any company with at least 250 employees to facilitate "as far as possible" carpooling solutions for its staff's home-to-work journeys (Art. 52)
  • Employers will also be required to cover all or part of the costs incurred by employees commuting by bicycle between their home and their usual place of work, in the form of a "bicycle mileage allowance", the amount of which will be set by decree. Partly exempt from social security contributions, this allowance may be combined with reimbursement of subscriptions taken out by employees for the use of public transport or public bicycle rental services (Art. 50).
  • Companies subject to corporate income tax will finally be able to benefit from a tax reduction equal to the costs generated by providing their employees with a fleet of bicycles free of charge for commuting to and from work, up to a limit of 25% of the purchase price of the bicycles (Art. 39).

CSR and GHG reporting

Any company subject to non-financial reporting obligations under Article L. 225-102-1 of the French Commercial Code will be required to present in its management report or reference document the way in which it takes into account "the consequences on climate change of its activity and the use of the goods and services it produces".

For listed companies, the Chairman of the Board of Directors will also have to report on "the financial risks associated with the effects of climate change and the measures taken by the company to reduce them by implementing a low-carbon strategy in all areas of its business" (Art. 173).

In addition, an ordinance could introduce a penalty procedure for failure to carry out a GHG emissions assessment (mandatory for companies with over 500 employees). The ordinance could also be used to modify the frequency of this assessment (currently every 3 years) (Art. 167).

What future for the carbon tax?

As part of the domestic tax on the consumption of fossil fuels and combustibles (TICPE), the carbon tax will be gradually increased to €56 per tonne ofCO2 emitted in 2020, rising to €100 in 2030 (Art. 1). As a reminder, the carbon tax amounted to €14.50/t ofCO2 in 2015.

Waste management

Title IV of the Energy Transition Act is dedicated to combating waste and promoting thecircular economy. It includes several provisions concerning waste management of direct interest to businesses, including :

  • Abandonment of the draft decree defining specific national measures for waste characterization, packaging and labeling: on the one hand, the introduction of a systematic procedure for waste characterization by producers was considered too restrictive [2] and excessive in relation to the requirements of European law. On the other hand, hazardous waste is already subject to packaging and labelling rules under ADR regulations, which are now considered sufficient (Art. 82).
  • The introduction, as of January1, 2017, of a take-back scheme for construction materials, products and equipment used by building professionals. Specifically, distributors will have to provide their professional customers with collection points at or near their sales sites (Art. 93).
  • The express obligation for anyone using waste to backfill or raise land for development or rehabilitation purposes to be able to justify the inert nature of the waste concerned and its use for recovery and not disposal purposes (

Promulgation of the Energy Transition Act: new measures on the horizon

Implementation of the objectives set by the enactment of the Energy Transition Act will largely be the result of new medium- and long-term strategic documents, which are already being drawn up by the Ministry of Ecology.

Firstly, a National Low-Carbon Strategy (Stratégie nationale bas carbone - SNBC) adopted by decree will define the broad outlines of the cross-sectoral and sectoral policies to be implemented in order to achieve the targets for reducing GHG emissions by 2030 (minus 40% compared with 1990 emissions) and 2050 (minus 75% compared with 1990 emissions [3]).

The guidelines and instructions set out in the SNBC must enable us to comply with national emission caps set at national level and by sector of activity (Transport, Industry, Residential-tertiary, Agriculture, etc.) for the period 2015-2018, and then by 5-year period, known as "carbon budgets" (Art. 173).

The carbon budgets for the 2015-2018, 2019-2023 and 2024-2028 periods and the SNBC must be published no later than October 15, 2015. The carbon budgets for subsequent periods and the simultaneous update of the SNBC will be published at least 10 years before the start of each period (e.g. 2018 for the 2029-2033 period).

Secondly, a multi-annual energy program (PPE), also set by decree, will henceforth determine the priorities for action and measures implemented, in particular to :

  • secure energy supplies and cut costs
  • improve energy efficiency and reduce primary energy consumption
  • develop the use of renewable and recovered energies and reduce the share of nuclear power in electricity production
  • promoting local production and self-generation of energy, and developing smart grids.

Established in coherence with the SNBC, the PPE will formalize French energy policy, for which it will be the reference document. It will replace the previous energy planning tools, merging and complementing them [4].

Each PPE will cover two successive 5-year periods, with the exception of the first PPE which will cover the periods 2016-2018 and 2019-2023. Although work on the first PPE began in March 2015, it is not expected to be adopted before the end of the year, as originally planned.

Ultimately, the SNBC and PPE will ensure the concrete and progressive implementation of the Energy Transition Act. They will form the roadmap for this major challenge, and will thus condition the future efforts required of businesses.

The stimulus plan updates this information in favor of decarbonizing industry.

[1] These transmission tariffs are set by law and are one of the components of gas and electricity prices. They are used to remunerate transmission system operators (RTE, GRT Gaz & TIGF) and distribution network operators (ErDF, GrDF and local distribution companies).

[2] In particular, the draft decree provided for the introduction of a hazardous waste identification sheet, drawn up under the responsibility of waste producers and containing the characterization data required by treatment providers (nomenclature code, hazard properties, waste-generating process, etc.).

[3] Objective entitled "Factor 4", since it involves dividing GHG emissions by 4 between 1990 and 2050.

[4] Multiannual investment plan (PPI) for electricity and heat, Multiannual indicative plan (PIP) for gas, National action plans for renewable energies (PNA EnR) and energy efficiency (PNA EE).

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