The French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) announced on October 22, 2026, that RTE, the national electricity transmission system operator, is prohibited from designating December 24 and December 31 as RED days under the EDF Tempo tariff option. This regulation took effect on November 1, marking the start of the annual period when red days are scheduled. Consequently, approximately 900,000 subscribers to this plan will no longer face peak pricing during these two festive evenings.
Under the Tempo system, a red day sees the price per kilowatt-hour rise to 72.95 cents during peak hours, which is nearly four times the cost of the standard regulated Base tariff. The decision specifically targets these dates because December 31, 2025, was previously classified as a red day, a move that was poorly received by consumers. The CRE noted in its October 21 deliberation that this situation mirrored events from December 31, 2014, breaking with EDF's historical practice of avoiding red days on New Year's Eve.
Following a public consultation held between May 22 and July 24, 2026, the majority of stakeholders supported excluding these two dates. Experts argued that such prohibitive prices during holidays could discourage customers from participating in demand-response offers designed to reduce consumption during peak times. In the event of genuine network stress on these evenings, the CRE indicated reliance on Ecowatt, RTE's signal system that alerts users to potential outages and requests voluntary consumption reductions without altering their bills.
The new regulations also address issues regarding the distribution of red days throughout the winter season. During the mild 2025-2026 winter, the previous algorithm triggered few red days early in the season, forcing RTE to schedule 13 consecutive red days in March to meet the annual quota of 22. To prevent such end-of-season catch-ups, the CRE has instructed RTE to adopt a method similar to that used for selecting peak days in the capacity mechanism. This new approach sets cumulative targets for red days by the end of each month: a maximum of three in November, exactly six in December, between 13 and 19 in January, between 20 and 22 in February, and a total of 22 by March.
RTE tested this new algorithm against data from the last four winters. The results showed an efficiency rate of 94% in identifying days with the highest network demand, compared to 95% for the previous method. Crucially, the simulation indicated that the new system would never have required more than three catch-up red days, a significant improvement over the 13 scheduled in March 2026. Additionally, starting November 1, 2027, RTE will be able to announce some red days two days in advance, rather than the current practice of announcing them the day before at 10:30 AM.
The EDF Tempo option, available since 1998, divides the year into 300 blue days with low rates, 43 white days with moderate rates, and 22 red days. These red days occur exclusively between November 1 and March 31, never on weekends or public holidays. As of November 4, 2026, no red or white days had been scheduled for the current season, meaning all 22 red days and 43 white days remain to be assigned. EDF has confirmed these changes via email to its subscribers, ensuring that December 24 and 31 will not be charged at peak rates.
Sources: Numerama.