Faced with the current public-health crisis, the EDF Group's 165,000 employees are fully engaged in the fulfilment of their essential duties supporting citizens of the countries they work in, particularly in the field of power generation, energy services and front-line interaction with our customers.
The EDF workforce's deep attachment to the values of public service, the common good and mutual support has given rise to several initiatives aimed at mitigating the challenges arising from the epidemic.
Supporting vulnerable micro, small and medium-sized suppliers
In order to support its micro, small and medium-sized suppliers affected by the economic slow-down brought about by the epidemic, the Group has decided to accelerate the settlement of its suppliers' invoices with respect to the contractually-binding 60-day deadline in France. This arrangement applies to services that have been completed and accepted by EDF as at the 31st of March 2020. Within EDF SA, micro-enterprises will be paid by the middle of April whilst small and medium-sized enterprises will be paid by the end of April. This arrangement is also being implemented by the group's subsidiaries Dalkia and EDF Renouvelables. Enedis1 has decided to implement an equivalent arrangement. These early payments concern more than twenty-thousand invoices amounting to around 190 million Euros across the Group in France. Suppliers do not need to complete any formalities. The duration of this arrangement is subject to change, depending on how long the crisis lasts.
The EDF Group Foundation's Emergency and Solidarity Fund
In response to the public-health crisis, the EDF Group Foundation has set up a 2-million-Euro emergency and solidarity fund. It will operate both in France and abroad and will, as of now, commit 1 million Euros to the provision of emergency assistance to healthcare personnel and to the most vulnerable members of the public, as well as another 1 million Euros, at the end of the public-health crisis, in support of the most vulnerable. The first set of projects includes the distribution of high-quality meals to healthcare workers in France, the supply of computers enabling underprivileged youth to engage in e-learning, the distribution of vouchers to the homeless, and the supply of portable healthcare kits to vulnerable families and healthcare personnel in Cameroon.
Energy endowment
EDF is providing its French workforce with the opportunity to help struggling households, which are supported by the Abbé Pierre Foundation, pay their electricity bills, irrespective of their supplier. For every Euro paid by its employees, EDF undertakes to pay an additional Euro to help fund the Foundation's initiatives designed to prevent energy precarity. This “energy endowment” is also accessible to EDF customers equipped with Linky meters via the EDF & Moi mobile application.
EDF supporting all its customers
True to its values, EDF is staying in touch with all its customers during this challenging period. Nearly 3,000 customer-service advisors are remotely maintaining high standards of service and providing the support needed by residential customers, businesses and communities. All services remain available via dedicated customer platforms on the edf.fr website and from the EDF & Moi mobile application.
For its residential customers, EDF implements the extension of the winter truce until the 31st of May 2020 (instead of the 31rd of March 2020), meaning that no households will have to go without gas or electricity if their bills have not been paid. For the hardest-hit customers, more than 100 solidarity advisors have been called upon to support social workers and come up with optimal solutions.
EDF is supporting business customers that have been hard-hit by the public-health crisis. Upon request, customers that are eligible for the Solidarity Fund1 will have their payment deadlines differed in accordance with recent government orders. In concrete terms, eligible small enterprises may apply for the deferral of invoices payable over the period of 12th March 2020 to the date on which the public-health state of emergency ends. This deferral will be staggered over a 6-month period, starting from the last day of the month following the date on which the public-health state of emergency ends. EDF will remain attuned to all its customers, including those who might not be eligible for this arrangement, so that it can continue providing them with the most effective support during this period.
Everywhere in France, the EDF Group's subsidiaries3 are stepping up to the plate
Dalkia, a long-standing partner of the healthcare sector where it provides energy services, has called upon almost 1,200 technicians to maintain the operability of heating and domestic hot-water equipment, as well as to provide air-quality services, so crucial for healthcare facilities. The entire Dalkia Group has become involved in supplying heat to all customers connected to the urban heating network during this period of lockdown and in helping agri-food companies, which are under a great deal of strain, to continue doing business thanks to the continued performance of maintenance work on cold chains.
Citelum, who manages nearly 480,000 street lights in France, has called upon 230 employees to maintain public lighting services around the clock and to help keep public spaces safe.
Cham continues to provide emergency services for the safety of heating and domestic hot-water production facilities as well as to provide trouble-shooting services for these facilities, while taking stringent measures to ensure its customers' and workforce's safety.
Business continuity in EDF's electricity generation facilities
The EDF Group's wide range of energy sources (nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, fossil-fuelled) is continuing to generate power. As part of its pandemic response plan, EDF has implemented robust arrangements that will maintain both short and long-term continuity of service. There arrangements reconcile employee and contractor health protection with scrupulous adherence to operational safety, personal safety and environmental monitoring standards.
Jean-Bernard Lévy, the EDF Group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: “During the current crisis, all entities of the EDF Group continue to fulfil their public service missions and perform their duties in the spirit of solidarity. Day in and day out, the people working on our sites, as well as our teleworkers, are playing an instrumental role in the massive battle that our country is waging. My heartfelt thanks go to the women and men working for EDF, who have shown such remarkable commitment whilst continuing to closely abide by health guidelines.”
(1) Enedis, distribution network manager, is an independently managed subsidiary of EDF
(2) To find out more about it, click here
(3) The Dalkia Group, Citelum and Cham are wholly owned subsidiaries of the EDF Group
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