Étranger Things: When Your French Electric Meter Breaks Up With Your Kettle

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You’re in Aix.

It’s 19h45.
Oven on, induction plates going, washing machine bravely spinning your baguette-crumbed T-shirts.

And then… click.
Darkness. Silence. One sad “beep” from the microwave.

Welcome to French electricity, where your meter doesn’t just count what you use – it also decides how much you’re allowed to use at the same time.

In the US, I had literally never heard of this. If the power went out it was either:

  • the utility’s fault, or

  • my fault for doing something ambitious with a hairdryer and a space heater on the same circuit.

But no one ever asked me how much power I wanted my whole home to be allowed to use at once. In France, that limit has a name:

🧠 la puissance souscrite – the “subscribed power” of your contract.

And if you go over it? Your meter basically says:

Non. Trop gourmand.

Let’s unpack it.

1. Usage vs puissance: the thing nobody explained at EDF

When you sign an electricity contract in France, you’re actually agreeing to two different things:

  1. How much energy you use over time

    • This is the familiar one: kWh (kilowatt-hours).

    • It’s what you see on bills in the US too.

  2. How much power you’re allowed to draw at any instant

    • This is the French twist: kVA (kilovolt-amperes).

    • Also called puissance de compteur or puissance souscrite. (Selectra)

Think of it like a water system:

  • kWh = how many litres of water you use in the whole day.

  • Puissance (kVA) = how wide your pipe is – how much can flow through it at the same time.

In France, you actually choose the pipe size when you subscribe. That number (3 kVA, 6 kVA, 9 kVA, etc.) is written on your contract, and your meter will enforce it.

2. So what is puissance in practice?

Your puissance souscrite is the maximum power your home is allowed to draw at once. If all your appliances together ask for more, your meter cuts you off.

Typical options for homes are:

  • 3 kVA – tiny studios, very light usage

  • 6 kVA – “normal” small/medium flat; most common in France (P-O Life)

  • 9 kVA – larger flats, electric heating, induction, oven + lots of stuff

  • 12–15 kVA – big houses, pools, heavy electric heating, EV charging, etc. (Paul Wilkins Electricien)

The higher the kVA, the higher your fixed monthly fee, even if you barely use any kWh. (The Good Life France)

That’s why many landlords and agencies happily keep things at 3 or 6 kVA: it’s cheaper… for them. For you? It may mean surprise blackouts every time you try to cook like an adult.

3. “But I didn’t use that much today…”

Here’s the important part:

Your meter does NOT care how much you’ve used today. It only cares what you’re asking for right now.

You could use just 2 kWh in an entire day (super thrifty),
but if you ask for 8 kW of power at the same moment and your contract is 6 kVA?

🔌 Coupure.

This is why:

  • You can be totally up to date on bills

  • You can be using very little over the whole month

  • And still have your meter cut out when you:

    • run the oven

    • plus the dishwasher

    • plus the washer

    • plus space heaters

    • plus your beloved 2000-watt American hairdryer on a dodgy adaptor 🙃

It’s all about peak usage, not total usage.

The modern French Linky meters are especially strict about this. If you exceed your subscribed puissance, they display the message “PUISS DÉPASSÉE” and cut the power until you reset them. (Enedis.fr)

There is a built-in tolerance (they let you go a bit over for a short time before cutting), but they will enforce the contract. (Automobile Propre)

4. How this feels different from the US

In the US (very simplified):

  • Your house might have 100A or 200A service, but you don’t really “choose” that in your contract in the same way.

  • Your bill is based on energy (kWh), maybe time-of-use, but not “you picked the wrong amperage, sorry you can’t cook dinner.”

  • If a breaker trips, it’s more about safety (overload on a circuit, short-circuit), not because the utility is enforcing a contractual power ceiling.

In France:

  • The utility & your supplier agree on your maximum power.

  • Your main breaker / Linky meter will absolutely enforce it.

  • So choosing the right puissance is a genuine lifestyle decision, not just a technical detail.

My revelation moment:
I was standing in the hallway in Aix, staring at a little green Linky box that had just ruined my risotto, and I realised:

In France my meter has opinions about my life choices.

5. How to tell why your power went out

When everything dies, you have two main suspects:

A. Only your flat is dark

Neighbors still have lights? Street lamps still on?

👉 This is probably your disjoncteur or Linky enforcing your puissance or reacting to an internal fault.

  1. Check the main breaker / disjoncteur de branchement near your meter.

    • If it’s down, push it back up.

  2. If you have Linky, look at the display:

    • If you see “PUISS DÉPASSÉE”, you simply asked for too much power at once. (Enedis.fr)

B. The whole building or street is dark

👉 That’s a network outage (Enedis issue), nothing to do with your puissance. Make tea on the gas stove and enjoy the stars.

6. How to check your puissance on a Linky

On a Linky meter, you can scroll through info with the little + button.

Look for a screen showing something like:

  • “P souscrite 6 kVA” or a number in VA (e.g. 6000 VA). (Enedis.fr)

You can also see your instantaneous power (how much you’re using right now), which is fun if you’re a nerd and/or procrastinating:

  • Turn on the oven: watch the value jump.

  • Turn on a space heater: jump again.

  • Turn everything on: watch it creep toward your limit and feel alive in a very specific, electrical way.

7. Should you change your puissance?

Short answer: maybe.

Rough rule of thumb (very simplified):

  • 3 kVA

    • ok for very small studio + gas cooking + gas/central heating + few appliances

  • 6 kVA

    • fine for small flats, if you don’t run many high-power appliances at once

  • 9 kVA

    • usually needed if you have:

      • full electric cooking (induction, oven) and

      • electric heating or many big appliances used together

Why not just crank it to 12 or 15 kVA and never think about it again?

Because your fixed monthly fee goes up with each jump in kVA – you’re paying for a fatter “pipe” even when you’re not using it. (The Good Life France)

The sweet spot is:

The lowest puissance that doesn’t make your meter rage-quit during your normal routine.

You can generally ask your supplier (EDF, Engie, etc.) to increase or decrease your puissance. With Linky, changes can often be done remotely without a technician visit. (Selectra)

8. Simple strategies to avoid tripping the meter

If you can’t (or don’t want to) raise your puissance, you can adapt your habits:

  • Stagger big appliances

    • Don’t run oven + dishwasher + washer + dryer all at once.

  • Know your “worst combo”

    • For many people: oven + induction + space heaters = 💣

  • Use timers

    • Let the water heater and washing machine run at night or when nothing else is going.

  • Check time-of-use options (heures pleines / heures creuses)

    • These change the price per kWh at different hours, but don’t change your puissance limit. (EDF Particulier)

The first week I tried to live “normally” on 6 kVA in Aix, I felt like I was playing a real-life resource management video game.
Level 1: Can you make dinner and wash clothes?
Answer: No, but you can make cold dinner with very clean clothes.

9. Mini French lesson: Talk about your power like a local

Useful vocab

  • le compteur – the meter

  • le compteur Linky – the green smart meter

  • la puissance souscrite – subscribed power (kVA)

  • le disjoncteur (général / de branchement) – main breaker

  • sauter les plombs (fam.) – to trip the breaker / blow a fuse

  • une coupure de courant – a power cut

  • réarmer le compteur – to reset the meter

Handy phrases by level

A1:

  • J’ai une coupure de courant dans mon appartement.

  • Je crois que le disjoncteur a sauté.

A2:

  • Mon compteur Linky affiche “PUISS DÉPASSÉE”. Que dois-je faire ?

  • Je pense que la puissance de mon contrat est trop faible.

B1:

  • Quand j’utilise le four et la plaque en même temps, tout disjoncte. Est-ce possible d’augmenter la puissance à 9 kVA ?

B2:

  • J’aimerais comparer le coût d’un abonnement en 6 kVA et en 9 kVA, en tenant compte de notre consommation réelle sur l’année.

C1/C2 (pour frimer un peu):

  • Notre profil de consommation a changé avec le chauffage électrique et la plaque à induction, donc il faudrait sans doute recalibrer la puissance souscrite pour éviter les coupures intempestives.

Feel free to steal any of those for phone calls with your fournisseur. They already know you have an accent; they’ll be impressed that you know the word puissance.

10. Want to go nerd-deep?

If you enjoy this kind of thing (no judgement, same), here are a few starting points (in French and English):

  • Enedis FAQ about “PUISS DÉPASSÉE” on Linky meters (Enedis.fr)

  • Step-by-step how to rearm a Linky after an overload (ENGIE Particuliers)

  • Guides explaining puissance de compteur and typical kVA ranges for homes (Selectra)

(Yes, I have now read more French energy documentation than I ever read from my US utility. Character development.)

Your turn – on papote puissance ⚡

Have you had your first surprise blackout in France yet?

  • What’s your puissance now, and does it feel too small, too big, or juste comme il faut?

  • How often does your compteur complain?

  • Any good blackout stories from bad timing (Zoom call, hair coloring, holiday turkey…)?

And for French learners:

  • A1–A2: Try writing one or two sentences in French about a time when the power went out.

  • B1–B2: Describe your current electricity setup (Linky or not, kVA, main appliances) in French.

  • Advanced: Explain to the rest of us whether you chose your puissance strategically or just accepted whatever the landlord had, and what you’d change now.

Drop a comment, share your level (A1? B2? “I just learned what kVA means today”?), and help the next newcomer avoid discovering puissance souscrite in the middle of dinner.

Location: France

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