France targets nearly one-quarter of communes for electrification
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The French government chose 109 towns and intercommunal areas to begin a program electrifying homes, businesses, and transportation, covering 14.8 million residents.
These locations, selected from 196 applications by local authorities, will develop plans to replace fossil fuel systems with electric alternatives. The initiative aims to reduce France’s dependence on imported fossil fuels and utilize its low-carbon electricity.
The program focuses on transitioning households away from oil and gas boilers to heat pumps, increasing the availability of electric vehicles and charging stations, and encouraging local businesses to adopt electric equipment. Local authorities will collaborate with the state and the environmental agency Ademe to create local roadmaps detailing specific electrification goals, with these plans expected to be finalized by October 2026.
The government anticipates this program will result in the installation of 15,000 new electric vehicle charging points, including 2,000 fast-charging points, across the selected areas. Additionally, officials project around 110,000 homes will switch from gas heating and 130,000 will move away from heating oil. Residents in the selected communes will not be required to make changes, but may have access to information and support for adopting electric technologies.
The government published a map detailing the selected areas, which include individual communes, groups of local authorities, and larger intercommunal bodies.
