Why the East Var energy renovation agency is closing its doors

It was created in 2016 to encourage individuals in the late Cavem, Dracénie and Pays de Fayence to undertake energy renovation work before doing the same with professionals.

After more than eight years of existence and supporting several thousand households in their projects, the Var-Est Energy Renovation Agency (AREVE) abruptly ceased its activities a few weeks ago.

"Constant changes in state policy"

"The inter-municipal partners of this public interest group had to put an end to this structure. A decision that we all deplore but that we were forced to take in the face of the constant changes in state policy," laments Martine Arenas, president of Areve at the time of its dissolution.

She denounces: "Implementation of measures, recurring modifications, suspensions, cascading complexities in the name of simplification... All this, without any real funding. All of this is aggravated by a "stop and go" policy from the Paca Region in terms of financing the energy transition which then gives no visibility to the territories to structure and register their action on the ground over time."

Faced with this lack of visibility regarding funding for the year 2025, the woman who is also vice-president of Estérel Côte d'Azur Agglomération emphasizes that the community has "chosen to reinstate within its workforce the two executives it had made available to AREVE. At the same time, concerned about the service provided to its constituents, it has set up a reception, by appointment, for the inhabitants of its territory within the France Service agency in Boulouris."

However, some will undoubtedly regret the scope of AREVE. While France Service is able to provide support in obtaining state subsidies through the Ma prime rénov' scheme, AREVE carried out prevention work and provided other services such as thermal mapping of homes and even entire neighborhoods, or even home visits to assess the most appropriate work for each home and budget.