Energy Performance Certificate (DPE): Electricity Coefficient to Be Lowered Again in 2027

A draft ordinance, open for public comment through August 6, calls for lowering the electricity conversion factor from 1.9 to 1.7 as of January 1, 2027—just one year after the previous revision. Hundreds of thousands of electrically heated homes would see their energy performance ratings change without any renovations, and the leading real estate diagnostics union is raising concerns about the credibility of the energy performance certificate (DPE).
 

This is the third revision in six years. The primary energy coefficient for electricity—the technical value used to convert the kilowatt-hours billed to households into kilowatt-hours of primary energy when calculating the energy performance rating—is set to decrease once again. 

Originally set at 2.58 in the 1970s, reduced to 2.3 in 2021 and then to 1.9 as of January 1, 2026, it would drop to 1.7 as of January 1, 2027, according to the draft decree that the Ministry of Ecological Transition has opened for public comment through August 6. The text, submitted to the Higher Energy Council on July 8, is scheduled to be reviewed there on July 23 before it is potentially published in the Official Journal.
 

The government’s rationale has been clear since the electrification plan was unveiled on April 23: to reduce the disadvantage electricity faces in the Energy Performance Certificate (DPE) in order to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels and encourage the installation of heat pumps, even though France’s electricity mix is already largely decarbonized. The government points out that the European framework allows the conversion factor to be lowered to approximately 1.7.
 

Between 300,000 and 500,000 homes would no longer be considered "energy-inefficient"
 

The consequences would be anything but theoretical. Initial estimates suggest that 300,000 to 500,000 electrically heated homes would no longer be classified as energy efficiency classes F and G without any renovations, including approximately 125,000 rental units in the private sector that are currently subject to rental bans. The previous revision, which took effect in January 2026, had already removed some 850,000 homes from the “energy-inefficient” category. As in 2026, owners will not need to have a new energy performance assessment conducted: a certificate confirming the new energy efficiency rating can be downloaded for free from ADEME’s DPE-Audit observatory for all energy performance assessments conducted since July 2021.
 

The leading real estate appraisal trade association fears a loss of direction
It is precisely this repeated cycle of changes that concerns Sidiane, the leading interprofessional trade association for real estate appraisals, in a press release issued on July 16. The organization says it understands the motivations behind the reform—the shift toward electrification and the installation of heat pumps in households—but warns public authorities about the consequences of these repeated changes on the general public’s understanding of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Two changes to the methodology in two years—each resulting in massive reclassifications without any actual work being done—confuse the message conveyed to both homeowners and tenants: an “E” rating obtained solely based on a coefficient says nothing about the actual energy bill or winter comfort. For the union, the credibility of a tool that has become central to energy renovation policy is at stake, since the EPC determines rental bans, audit requirements, and access to financial assistance.
 

The timeline creates a management challenge for landlords: a unit reclassified as of January 1, 2027, would be exempt from rental restrictions, but landlords who undertake renovations between now and then based on the current energy efficiency rating could see their financing plans disrupted, as the two-class improvement required by certain subsidies would become more difficult to achieve after automatic reclassification.