Public support for renewable energy in France has cost the state 26.3 billion euros between 2016 and 2024, according to a report by the Cour des comptes, a French auditing body, published in spring 2024. This amounts to an average of 2.9 billion euros per year, underscoring the significant financial burden of the support system. The report criticizes the mechanism for being costly, unpredictable, and poorly adapted to changes in the energy market, such as the decreasing production costs of renewable energy over time. The current support system guarantees renewable energy producers a fixed purchase price for about twenty years, regardless of market conditions. This has led to situations where the state compensates producers even when market prices are lower than the guaranteed rate. In 2023, this mechanism resulted in a negative charge of -3.12 billion euros for the public service energy, as the state received net revenues of 4.83 billion euros during a period of high energy prices. However, by 2024, the state spent 3.9 billion euros, and the Cour des comptes predicts the cost could reach 7.3 billion euros in 2025. The report points out that this system can worsen periods of negative electricity prices, when the supply of electricity exceeds demand. During these times, renewable energy producers continue to be paid at the fixed rate, which can create a lack of economic incentive to reduce production. Some industry observers have described this as a flexibility issue with the electricity grid, rather than a problem with renewable energy itself. The Cour des comptes also warns of risks of overpayment and windfall profits, linked to a lack of understanding of the real economics of the energy sector. It notes that public authorities may have set prices that were too generous due to an incomplete evaluation of production costs. Additionally, subsidies have remained high even as the production costs of renewable energy have dropped significantly, leading to limited competition in some tenders. Despite these criticisms, the report acknowledges that renewable electricity production has grown from 100 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2016 (18% of national production) to 150 TWh in 2024 (27% of electricity produced in France). This progress has partially achieved the original goal of accelerating the deployment of green energy. However, the cost-effectiveness of the current support mechanisms now needs to be reevaluated to ensure the system is both sustainable and efficient.