‘French households could face catch-up energy payments’

PARIS, July 5 (Reuters) :  French households could face an extra 27 euro ($36.83) catch-up payment to settle their electricity bills after a government cap on prices was annulled, energy minister Segolene Royal was quoted saying.
In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper published on Saturday, Royal said she was in talks with state-controlled EDF to spread the payment over 18 months.
The proposal, if it goes ahead, would affect 29 million consumers, or 92 per cent of households, Le Parisien reported.
"This would allow them to have to pay only 1.5 euro extra a month over that period," Royal told the French newspaper.
EDF lost more than $5 billion of its stock market value on June 19 after Royal said she had cancelled a 5 per cent rise in regulated power tariffs set to take effect on Aug.1.
The catch-up payment would cover a one-year period to August 2013 during which time the government limited price increases to 2 per cent.