News on your electricity bills. The “off-peak and peak hours” system is gradually evolving for 11 million French people from Wednesday November 4, EDF announces. These new schedules, now variable according to the seasons, concern all electricity suppliers and should make it possible to shift part of the demand towards the afternoon, when photovoltaic production is at its highest and prices at their lowest. Franceinfo answers five questions about this development.
1 What is this system of off-peak and peak hours for electricity?
When you took out a subscription for your electricity, you may have seen an offer called "off-peak and peak hours". This system was put in place in the 1960s with the commissioning of the first French nuclear power plants, recalls the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). The concept is simple: the day is divided in two, with 16 so-called "peak" hours and 8 so-called "off-peak" hours, and different electricity rates, depending on local network constraints.
The objective, for energy producers, is to encourage consumers to shift certain uses when demand is lowest. Households benefit from advantageous rates during these time slots to operate their washing machine or recharge their hot water tank, for example.
2 How are these schedules changing?
Several major new features will emerge for the customers concerned. First, the off-peak hours ranges will potentially be different in summer (from April 1 to October 31) and winter (from November 1 to March 31). Then, part of the off-peak hours will be moved to the afternoon. Not everyone will be in the same boat, but the majority of customers will now have off-peak hours in the afternoon all year round or at least in the summer. Finally, there will no longer be off-peak hours from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the summer, and in the 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. slots during the winter.
From now on, for example, you will be able to have two or three off-peak hours between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the summer, and the rest at night, explains EDF. In winter, all off-peak hours may still be grouped at night between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., or part of them may shift to the afternoon.
Two main principles do not change: you will always keep your 8 off-peak hours each day (and therefore 16 peak hours) and the night remains a privileged time for these hours at a reduced rate, with at least 5 consecutive off-peak hours guaranteed for significant electricity consumption, such as recharging an electric car or a hot water tank.
3 Who is affected and from when?
This great reform does not happen in one day. The new off-peak hours have already been applied since November 1, 2025 for certain customers, in particular those who have recently moved or taken out a new subscription. But from Wednesday, these are gradually deployed for all "off-peak and peak hours" customers of all operators, until November 30, 2027. This concerns 11 million customers, according to the CRE.
To find out if you will be affected, simply consult your off-peak time slots in your customer area. If they are between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. or between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., your off-peak hours will be changed. In all cases, you will be notified by your energy supplier one month before the change. The opportunity to know your new time slots and to check that this system still corresponds to your uses.
Please note that customers who have EDF's Tempo option are not affected by this modification. These new rules do not apply either in Corsica or in the overseas territories, specifies the site service-public.gouv.fr.
4 What should I do at home?
Changing these times may require some adjustments at home. Although the change in off-peak hours will apply automatically, the configurations of your devices will not always follow. Concretely, the devices connected to your Linky meter, such as your hot water tank, will automatically adapt to the new off-peak times. But if some of your devices are programmed without being connected to your meter, you may need to adjust their programming when the time comes.
Your hot water tank could thus start twice, during the two off-peak periods, but this will have no impact on your consumption and your comfort, assures the CRE.
5 Why this change?
This evolution of the old system of "off-peak hours" aims to shift part of the electricity demand towards the afternoon, when photovoltaic production is at its highest and prices at their lowest. The reform implemented by Enedis, the distribution network manager, should thus reduce the phenomenon of so-called "negative" electricity prices, when supply exceeds demand and prices fall below zero.
The reform should make it possible to shift "around 5 gigawatts (GW) of consumption towards the afternoon during the sunniest months", explained Timothée Furois, director of the Enedis flexibilities program, in October 2025 to AFP. That's about what five nuclear reactors produce.
