Retail markets: 15.71 million residential sites on market offers at end-March 2026
The observatory published on 2 July 2026 records a switching rate of 14.8% for electricity in the non-residential segment.
On 2 July 2026, the French Energy Regulatory Commission published its retail market observatory for the first quarter of 2026, which analyses competition in the electricity and natural gas markets in mainland France on a quarterly basis.
Between 31 December 2025 and 31 March 2026, an additional 232,000 residential sites switched to market offers for electricity, compared with 303,000 in the previous quarter, bringing the total to 15.71 million.
This increase is 58% driven by alternative suppliers, i.e. a net gain of 135,000 sites over the quarter. At the end of March 2026, out of 35.08 million residential sites, 19.37 million remained on regulated sales tariffs, or 55.2%, a fall of 174,000 customers.
In the natural gas market, 4.87 million residential sites — 47.2% of the 10.31 million sites — have a contract with an alternative supplier, compared with 46.9% in the previous quarter.
The non-residential segment stands out for high supplier switching rates at the start of 2026. In electricity, the switching rate reaches 14.8%, driven by strong growth among alternative suppliers.