Total has ‘Uber-like’ ambitions in France
The oil giant is shaking up France’s power industry, offering a low-cost, digital service and setting a trend of big discounts among electricity retailers
Paris — Total’s French retail electricity arm is on track to win 700,000 customers in 2018, challenging former state monopolies EDF and Engie with a low-cost, digital service it believes could mimic Uber’s success in the taxi market. Total Spring is signing up 3,500 to 4,000 customers every day, attracting them with a 10% discount to the regulated price that state-controlled rival EDF must use, its director Marc Bensadoun told Reuters. A decade after liberalisation, France’s power supply market is final coming to life as the process of switching providers has become easier and the entrance of new players has increased customer awareness of the options available. EDF still accounts for about 80% of the retail power market, with roughly 26-million customers, but it is losing around 100,000 a month, according to French energy market regulator CRE. Since oil giant Total’s entry into the market a year ago, several other major French companies — including retail groups Casino and Leclerc ...
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