EDF Tempo customers will no longer face RED-day electricity rates on December 24 or December 31. France’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) announced the change on October 22, and it took effect on November 1, when the annual period for Tempo red days begins. The option has around 900,000 subscribers, according to the information provided.
On a red day, the price per kilowatt-hour reaches €0.7295 during peak hours, nearly four times the regulated Base-rate price, the source reports. December 31, 2025, was classified as a red day, prompting complaints. The CRE also noted that this had happened on December 31, 2014, the first winter in which grid operator RTE selected the day’s colour.
The CRE consulted the public between May 22 and July 24, 2026, on changes to how Tempo days are assigned. Most participants supported excluding both holiday eves from red days, arguing that high prices at those times could discourage customers from staying on demand-response electricity plans. If the grid is under strain on either evening, the CRE says RTE can use Ecowatt alerts to ask people to reduce consumption without changing their bills.
The revised method also aims to spread red days more evenly across winter. In the mild winter of 2025–26, the previous algorithm left more than 15 red days to be assigned by late January. RTE then scheduled 13 in March, excluding weekends, despite no exceptional level of electricity use.
Under the new approach, RTE must meet cumulative monthly targets: no more than three red days by the end of November, exactly six by the end of December, between 13 and 19 by the end of January, between 20 and 22 by the end of February, and 22 by the end of March. Tests covering the previous four winters found that the method identified high-demand days with 94% efficiency, compared with 95% for the former algorithm. It would have limited catch-up red days to three, rather than the 13 scheduled in March 2026.
From November 1, 2027, RTE will also be able to announce some red days two days in advance. Currently, the colours are announced the day before at 10:30 a.m. The CRE’s decision has since been published in France’s Official Journal.
Tempo divides the year into 300 blue days, 43 white days and 22 red days. Red days can occur only from November 1 to March 31, and never on weekends or public holidays. As of November 4, 2026, none of the season’s red or white days had been assigned, so all 22 red days and 43 white days remained ahead. EDF has also emailed subscribers to confirm that December 24 and 31 will not be red days.
Sources: Numerama.