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Article 5 of Law No 2000-108 of 10 February 2000 on the modernisation and development of the public electricity service (loi no2000-108, du 10 février 2000, relative à la modernisation et au développement du service public de l’électricité) (JORF of 11 February 2000, p. 2143), as amended by Law No 2006-1537 of 7 December 2006 on the energy sector (loi no2006-1537, du 7 décembre 2006, relative au secteur de l’énergie) (JORF of 8 December 2006, p. 18531, ‘Law No 2000-108’), provides: ‘(I) Costs attributable to the public service tasks assigned to electricity operators shall be offset in full. They shall comprise: (a) As far as electricity generation is concerned: (1) The additional costs, if any, that ensue from the application of the provisions of Articles 8 and 10 as compared to the costs that Électricité de France [SA (EDF) (“Électricité de France”)] is spared or, where relevant, to the costs that the non-nationalised distributors referred to in Article 23 of Law No 46-628 of 8 April 1946 [on the nationalization of electricity and gas (loi no46-628 du 8 avril 1946 sur la nationalisation de l’électricité et du gaz) (JORF of 9 April 1946, p. 2651)] are spared that are concerned. Costs spared shall be calculated by reference to the market price for electricity or, for the non-nationalised distributors, by reference to the transfer tariffs referred to in Article 4 in proportion to the amount of electricity purchased at those tariffs as a fraction of their total supply, after deduction of the quantities purchased pursuant to Articles 8 and 10 above. The same values for costs spared shall serve as the reference for determining the additional costs to be offset where the installations concerned are operated by Électricité de France or by a non-nationalised distributor. Where the contracts concern the purchase of electricity generated by a production installation located in an area that is not interconnected with the continental metropolitan network, the additional costs shall be calculated by reference to the amount relative to production at the regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity; … Those costs shall be calculated on the basis of appropriate accounts kept by the operators by whom they are to be borne. Those accounts, drawn up in accordance with rules laid down by the Commission de régulation de l’énergie (French energy regulatory authority), shall be audited at the abovementioned operators’ expense by their auditor or, in the case of local public utility providers, by their public accountant. … The Minister for Energy shall determine by order the total costs on a proposal from the Commission de régulation de l’énergie made annually. The offsetting of those costs, in favour of the operators bearing them, shall be secured through charges payable by final consumers of electricity located in the national territory. The amount of the charges referred to above shall be calculated in proportion to the quantity of electricity consumed. … The amount of the charge payable per consumption site, by the final consumers referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 22(I), may not exceed EUR 500 000. The same cap shall be applicable to the charge payable by the undertakings referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 22(I) for traction electricity consumed in the national territory and to the charge payable by the undertakings referred to in the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(II) for electricity consumed downstream of the electricity delivery points on an electrically interconnected network. The amount of the charge applicable to each kilowatt hour shall be calculated so that the charges cover all the costs referred to in (a) and (b), and also the management costs incurred by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations [a French public long-term investment group], referred to below, and the national energy ombudsman’s budget. The Minister for Energy shall determine that amount by order on a proposal from the Commission de régulation de l’énergie, made annually. The amount of the annual charge set for a given year shall be applicable to subsequent financial years should a new order for the year in question not come into force. … The charges for eligible final consumers who have exercised the rights granted in Article 22(III) supplied through the public transmission network or through a public distribution network shall be recovered by the operator responsible for the management of the network to which those consumers are connected by way of a levy additional to the network usage tariffs. … The charges actually recovered shall be paid out to the operators that bear the costs of the public service through the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. … The Caisse des dépôts et consignations shall pay out the sums collected, four times a year, to the operators that bear the costs referred to in [Article 5(I)(a)(1) and (2) and (b)(1) and (2)]. It shall pay to the national energy ombudsman a sum equal to the amount of its budget on the 1st of January of each year. The Caisse des dépôts et consignations shall record those different transactions in a special account. The management fees incurred by the Caisse shall be determined annually by order by the Ministers for the Economy and for Energy. Without prejudice to the application of the penalties provided for in Article 41, if, within two months of the date on which it is payable, payment of the charge is not made or is insufficient, the Commission de régulation de l’énergie shall send a reminder letter together with a penalty for late payment of 10% of the amount of the charge payable. … Where the sum of the charges collected does not correspond to the total costs established for the year, rectification shall be made the following year through the charges payable for that year. If the sums payable are not recovered in the course of the year, they shall be added to the amount of the charges for the following year. The Commission de régulation de l’énergie shall assess the operation of the arrangements relating to the costs of the public electricity service referred to in [Article 5(I)] each year in its annual report. … (III) In the event of non-payment by a person liable to pay the charges provided for in [Article 5(I)] above, the Minister for Energy shall impose an administrative penalty under the conditions provided for in Article 41 of the present law. (IV) The detailed rules for the application of the present article shall be specified by decrees of the Conseil d’État.’