Toulouse. The department to the rescue of the energy union
The energy union of Haute-garonne signed, yesterday, in Labège, a partnership with the departmental council and 2 million euros at stake.
The Haute-Garonne departmental energy union (SDEHG), which brings together 585 municipalities and the metropolis, excluding Toulouse, signed a partnership yesterday in Labège with the departmental council which will allocate it a subsidy of 2 million euros. euros. The SDEHG is a key player in the department in terms of public energy service. It is a pooling tool at the departmental level allowing access to energy and a more efficient and egalitarian energy transition for communities and citizens. During the meeting, the president of the departmental council, Georges Méric, justified this aid. “”I can’t bring myself to see the union weaken,” he said. This intercommunity has suffered financial degradation for a few years. That’s why I encouraged the partnership between the union and the county council. with the allocation of an annual subsidy of €2 million”. Georges Méric also took this opportunity to respond to the criticisms, “I have read that some people questioned, for controversial purposes, the use by the departmental council of the electricity tax, the amount of which was 13.7 million euros last year and 14.30 M€ expected in 2022. This testifies to a certain ignorance! electricity, but like most other departmental revenues this one is not earmarked for specific expenses, he underlines. However, in Haute-Garonne, the department is strengthening its action in favor of the ecological and energy transition on a daily basis. Thus, in 2021 alone, €7 million were mobilized for renovation and boiler works with a view to limiting the energy consumption of departmental buildings. For the past 4 years, the rehabilitated or integrated middle schools have been positive energy establishments. There is an additional construction cost of close to €3 million per middle school. social housing, 1.15 M€ are invested per year for energy renovation work. And an annual envelope of 25 to 30 M€ is allocated to municipalities and inter-municipalities to renovate their buildings and build new, less energy-intensive equipment. These few non-exhaustive examples, which already amount to €20 million per year, show that the department’s action in terms of energy policy goes well beyond the income collected under the tax on electricity. An amount to which must now be added the €2 million annual subsidy to the SDEHG”.