The Essentials
- 96% of respondents reported power outages during summer 2026.
- 58.3% reported multiple interruptions per day.
- 74% plan to invest in electrical protection equipment in the next twelve months, of which 18% have already made their decision.
- 51.9% report delaying an investment project.
- No company surveyed reported having received any compensation.
Repeated outages affecting business activity
The IACE survey, conducted among industrial, commercial, and service-sector companies, highlights the frequency of electricity interruptions during the summer of 2026.
In total, 96% of respondents say they have suffered outages, including 58.3% multiple times per day.
“The results of the survey highlight a risk to the competitiveness of businesses,” notes IACE.
74% plan to invest in backup solutions
According to the survey, 56% of the surveyed companies did not have backup equipment before the summer of 2026.
Following the outages, 74% plan to invest in the next twelve months to secure their electricity supply. Among all respondents, 18% say the decision is already made, while 56% indicate that the investment remains under consideration.
The solutions include, in particular, generator sets, photovoltaic installations, batteries, and other backup equipment.
These devices can limit exposure to outages, but their effectiveness depends on the electrical needs, the technical operating conditions, and the financing capacity of the companies.
Main results of the survey in figures
| Indicator | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Businesses that suffered outages | 96% |
| Multiple outages per day | 58.3% |
| Without backup equipment before summer | 56% |
| Backup investment envisaged | 74% |
| Investment decision already taken | 18% |
| Investment still under study | 56% |
| Investment project postponed | 51.9% |
| Compensation claims pending or refused | 1% |
More than half of the companies report delaying an investment
One of the main takeaways from the survey concerns investment projects. 51.9% of the surveyed companies report delaying an investment project.
According to IACE, the resources mobilized to ensure continuity of the electricity supply can reduce the funds available to finance productive investments.
Companies may thus be forced to strike a balance between expenditures aimed at securing their activity and those devoted to expanding their production capacity.
The survey highlights this risk to competitiveness, without providing a figure for the total amount of postponed investments nor attributing each postponement exclusively to power outages.
Compensation: no company confirms having been compensated
The survey also raises questions about compensation for economic damages related to power outages.
According to the published results, no surveyed company has confirmed having benefited from compensation for the consequences of the outages.
Moreover, 1% of companies report compensation claims in progress or having been refused.
“These results raise questions about the handling of damages suffered by companies and the effectiveness of compensation mechanisms. They call for clarifying the applicable procedures and distinguishing declared damages, claims in progress, refusals, and compensation actually paid,” notes IACE.
However, these data do not allow concluding that there are no compensation schemes nor establishing legal responsibility for the observed outages.
Beyond the difficulties recorded during the summer of 2026, the results reveal concerns about the evolution of the electricity supply.
According to IACE, all the companies surveyed who answered this question anticipate a recurrence of tensions in the electrical system in 2027.
This expectation reflects the perception of the responding companies. It does not constitute a technical forecast establishing that new outages will indeed occur in 2027.
The results thus underscore a dual challenge: ensuring the continuity of economic activity and preserving the investment capacity of companies in the face of the costs of securing their electricity supply.
