My Journey: Why I Picked a Solar Farm 27km From My Couch — and You Can Too

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The day my electrons got personal

Somewhere between my third power cut and my fifth “c’est comme ça en France” shrug, I realised I had absolutely no idea where my electricity actually came from.

I could tell you the terroir of my rosé, the bakery that makes the good pain rustique, and which bus gets you closest to Monoprix without climbing a hill. But the thing running my oven, my induction hobs, my precious 4090, and the eco-setting space heater? 

When Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices went weird, and the EU started talking very loudly about resilience and getting off Russian fossil fuels as fast as possible. The REPowerEU plan is basically Brussels saying:

“Less Russian gas, more saving energy, more local renewables, more resilient grids, merci.” (Consilium)

For once, my neurosis and EU policy were perfectly aligned.

That’s how I ended up breaking up with faceless “whatever-the-default-is” electricity and signing up with Alterna énergie… and picking a solar farm about 27km away as “my” source.

Yes, I can now talk about “my” solar farm like some people talk about their sourdough starter. I’m fun at parties.

So… who exactly is Alterna énergie?

Short version:

  • 100% French supplier

  • Specialises in green, local electricity and gas

  • Lets you choose a nearby renewable energy farm (solar, wind, hydro, biomasse) when you sign up (alterna-energie.fr)

Longer geeky-but-friendly version:

  • Mutualist, local DNA
    Alterna isn’t a big foreign hedge fund experiment; it was created in 2005 by a bunch of entreprises locales d’énergie (ELD) who decided to team up instead of being steamrolled by the national giants. (alterna-energie.fr)
    Today it brings together about 50 local energy companies spread across France, many of them partly owned by local authorities.

  • Real local production, not just paperwork green
    Alterna says it produces and supplies green electricity from over 330 renewable energy farms in France (solar, wind, hydro, biomass). (alterna-energie.fr)
    When you subscribe, you actually get to pick the specific farm(s) you want to support. That’s the part that hooked me.

  • Recognised as “properly green”
    Their fully local green offer has the ADEME VertVolt “choix très engagé” label — basically the French state saying “this is not greenwashing, carry on.” (alterna-energie.fr)

I liked that it isn’t just “we buy certificates somewhere in Europe”; it’s “this solar field over there, in that département, is the one you’re helping to finance.”

Why local energy suddenly felt like self-defence

Russia’s war against Ukraine did two things at the same time:

  1. It devastated Ukraine and repeatedly targeted its energy infrastructure.

  2. It forced the EU to admit we’d gotten waaaay too cosy with Russian gas & oil.

REPowerEU’s whole brief is:

  • cut dependence on Russian fossil fuels

  • massively speed up renewables

  • diversify supplies

  • and make the whole system more resilient in the face of crises. (Consilium)

I’ve been a corporate policymaker (but now my biggest governance skill is organising the condiment shelf), and the logic is simple enough:

  • The more local and renewable our electricity is,

  • the less someone can turn off a pipeline on the other side of the continent and mess up dinner in Aix.

That’s resilience for me at my tiny scale:

  • supporting a solar farm close enough that I could theoretically bike there,

  • and helping build a France where, if something goes wrong elsewhere, we’re not completely stuck.

Is my one little contract changing the world? Yes, if it inspires you to make the same choice.
Does it make me feel like I’m pushing in the same direction as the EU instead of freeloading on their anxiety? Yes.

My revelation moment: choosing a solar farm on a map

Alterna’s sign-up process has this one step where a map pops up with available renewable sites. It looked like a cheese plate of little green icons across France.

I zoomed in around Aix like I was apartment-hunting, and there it was:

A solar farm about 27km away.

Not “somewhere in Europe”. Not “generic grid”. This very specific patch of glinting panels in Provence.

I clicked it and thought, slightly teary and slightly ridiculous:

“OK, if the lights stay on this winter, I at least know which field tried.”

And the new French sentence I got out of it?

“Mon électricité vient d’une ferme solaire à vingt-sept kilomètres d’ici.”
My electricity comes from a solar farm 27 kilometres from here.

Is it perfect? No. Is it satisfying? Absolutely.

Vie Hachés: how I actually switched (step-by-step, human version)

This is the practical “life hack” side of the story for anyone in France thinking about doing something similar.

1. Check your current contract & puissance (kVA)

Before touching anything:

  • Look at your last bill under “Puissance souscrite” (often 6 kVA or 9 kVA for apartments).

  • In centre-ville Aix, with:

    • oven

    • 2 induction hobs

    • washing machine

    • TV

    • hungry desktop PC

    • occasional space heater

…I decided 9 kVA was my comfort zone after a few too many “surprise candlelight dinners” from tripping the meter.

If you’re a light user (no big gaming rig, no space heater, not everything on at once), 6 kVA might be enough.

2. Go to Alterna’s site & simulate

  • Use their online simulator to enter your address, rough consumption, and desired puissance.

  • Compare the kWh price and fixed monthly fee with your current provider.

  • If you’re comparing to EDF’s regulated “Tarif Bleu”, remember that Alterna is a market offer, not a regulated tariff – prices can be different but you’re free to switch again later.

3. During sign-up: pick “énergie du coin”

This is the fun bit:

  • When they ask if you want “énergie locale / énergie du coin”, say YES.

  • You’ll see a list or map of local renewable farms – solar, wind, hydro, biomass. (alterna-energie.fr)

  • Sort by distance and pick something near you.

I deliberately chose a solar farm ~27km away, so the sunlight hitting those panels feels like the same Provençal sun that’s blinding me on Cours Mirabeau.

4. Don’t panic about the meter

  • You don’t touch the physical meter.

  • Alterna handles the switch with Enedis (the grid operator).

  • You get an email with your activation date; at worst, there may be a quick remote configuration of your Linky meter.

Lights stay on. Fridge keeps humming. Cat remains unimpressed. Your dog always loves you no matter what.

5. Watch your first bill like a hawk

For the first month or two:

  • Check your index (meter reading) matches roughly what’s billed.

  • Confirm you’re on the right puissance (kVA) and the right option (Base vs HP/HC, if relevant for you).

  • If anything looks weird, call or write customer service early rather than six months later with a 14-page spreadsheet (ask me how I know).

Referral corner: CL00143274 (and then your code, and your neighbour’s…)

If you’d like to try Alterna and also help me finance my dangerously intense calisson habit:

My Alterna referral code: CL00143274

Full disclosure:

  • If you sign up with that code, you get some money,

  • I get some money,

  • it only works for the first ten people who use it.

After that?

I’d love for you to:

  • Add your Alterna referral code in the comments once you’ve subscribed.

  • That way, new readers can keep using fresh codes, and more people can benefit while supporting local green projects in their own corner of France.

Think of it as a tiny energy-resilience chain letter, but with fewer curses and more solar panels.

French practice corner: talk about your energy choices

Because this is Étranger Things, we obviously need to turn this into homework. 📝

Here are some ideas by level if you want to practice in the comments (or your notebook) — feel free to post in French and we can all cheer each other on.

A1 – Super simple

  • “Je paie l’électricité chez ___.”

  • “Je veux de l’électricité verte.”

  • “Ma puissance est 6 (ou 9) kVA.”

Template:

Je suis chez [EDF / Alterna / etc.]. Je veux / j’ai une offre verte. Ma puissance est 6 kVA.

A2 – Short explanation

Try 3–4 sentences:

Avant, j’avais un contrat classique. Maintenant, je choisis une électricité verte locale. Ma ferme solaire est près de ma ville. Je veux plus de résilience en France.

You can also practice asking:

  • “Et toi, tu as quel fournisseur d’électricité ?”

B1 – Tell your mini-story

Write a small paragraph about one of these:

  • Your worst power-cut story

  • Why you care (or don’t care) about green energy

  • How you chose your kVA

Example starter:

J’ai changé de fournisseur d’électricité cette année. Au début je ne comprenais rien aux contrats, mais après plusieurs coupures, j’ai décidé de regarder les offres de marché…

B2 – Give your opinion

Try to argue a bit:

  • Is local energy important or overhyped?

  • Should France move faster toward renewables, even if it costs more in the short term?

  • Do you think individual choices (like changing supplier) matter?

Useful phrases:

  • “À mon avis…”

  • “Je trouve que…”

  • “Même si…, je pense que…”

Advanced / C1+ – Go full energy nerd

Go wild:

  • Compare the French model (nucléaire + renouvelables) with your home country.

  • Talk about energy sovereignty vs. cost.

  • Use some grown-up words like “résilience du réseau”, “sécurité énergétique”, “transition juste”.

Bonus: explain REPowerEU in your own words in French.

Your turn 💬

Have you:

  • Switched to a green or local energy provider in France?

  • Stuck with EDF, Engie, or another supplier for good reasons?

  • Chosen your own solar / wind / hydro farm with Alterna or another provider?

👉 Drop a comment below and tell us:

  1. Your fournisseur and puissance (kVA)

  2. If you’re with Alterna or planning to switch, feel free to share your referral code so others can benefit once mine hits the 10-person limit

  3. A few sentences en français at your level (A1 to advanced) about your energy situation

Let’s make this a little corner of the internet where we talk honestly about bills, blackout stories, and how not to blow the main breaker while running the oven, the A/C, and a gaming PC in centre-ville.

And if, somewhere out there, a tiny solar farm 27km from Aix is quietly sending electrons to our kettles while mistral winds scream overhead… well, that’s the kind of curated French lifestyle I can get behind.

Location: France

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