Public Debate about the Plurennial Energy Programming (PPE): a societal debate

Diversity is a guarantee of performance. Integrating various profiles in a debate of ideas remains always constructive as long as it implies listening, respect and takes into account the difficult and just balance between the reality principle, and current and future technological disruptions. Opened for a few days, the Public Debate on the Plurennial Energy Programming (PPE) will have to answer to this complex dynamic…

Increase consumers’ voice, and more generally citizens’: this is the ambition of the Public Debate National Commission (CNDP) when launching a major public debate organised on the Plurennial Energy Programming until June 30th.

Six key issues will be discussed: improvement of energy efficiency and reduction of fossil fuel consumption, acceleration of renewables’ development and diversification of the energy mix, preparation of tomorrow’s energy system (which will become more flexible and decarbonized, with appropriate infrastructures), protection of companies’ competitiveness and households purchasing power, whilst taking into account economic and social issues linked to the energy transition and with the involvement of local and regional levels.

Preparing tomorrow’s world in a collective and responsible way

All these issues, for which strong uncertainties remain, are discussed among experts in the framework of the PPE workshops. If disruptions come fast, stakeholders still need visibility to drive those transformations. Jacques Archimbaud (Vice-President of the CNDP) recalled it: “the chosen solution must be wise and balanced, with an energy mix that corresponds to regions and uses, (…) any runaway for a solution should rely on tangible and verified facts”. Faced with economic, industrial, technological, social and societal challenges brought by the energy transition, it is urgent to have a dispassionate debate about the PPE, in order to develop a global vision of today’s world, of the world we want to build for tomorrow and of the way to go to achieve it. Pragmatism, climate, economic and social dimensions should all guide us.

And electricity in all this?

UFE has been advocating for many months for the launch of a prospective approach to employment and skills, as described in the Energy Transition Law. A collective and global approach to anticipate needs in tomorrow’s skills, support career paths, and structure strong, innovative and job-providing sectors in France and in Europe is key to a successful energy transition. UFE welcomes the mission on employment and skills, chaired by Laurence Parisot, to accompany the Acceleration of the Energy Transition in our Economy.

By gathering together all the actors of electricity generation, networks, supply, energy efficiency and demand response services, UFE is a platform for understanding, analysing and sharing knowledge about the ongoing transformations. If it is essential that, in a public debate, each sector and each citizen or stakeholder express their views, it is also crucial to keep in mind a global vision of the functioning of the electricity system to anticipate and manage the impacts of the decisions that will be made. This is what UFE proposes to bring to the Public Debate on the PPE!