EDF CEO: French Indus Power Tariffs Will Rise To Match Costs
Tuesday April 1st, 2008 / 12h48
CHOOZ, France -(Dow Jones)- French state-owned electricity operator Electricite de France (1024251.FR) expects below market power tariffs for industrial clients to rise to match the costs of investing in new capacity, Chairman and Chief Executive Pierre Gadonneix said Tuesday. EdF would not have put in place its current investment pipeline, the costs for which would not be covered by the current regulated rates for industrial power users in France, if it did not believe the rates will rise to match those costs, Gadonneix told reporters during a tour of EdF's Chooz nuclear plant with European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. "Clearly tariffs must evolve," Gadonneix said. Piebalgs, meanwhile, reiterated that France's industrial tariffs, which the European Union says may constitute an illegal subsidy to business, should not remain in place after 2010. Such a system is "not possible" within the E.U.'s single market, he said. Company Web site: http://www.edf.com -By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40171740; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com;
