(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA shares jumped on a report that the government will pay more than 8 billion euros to nationalize the company. 

In the midst of Europe’s worst energy crisis in a generation, France wants to take the debt-laden utility back into full state ownership in order to keep households’ electricity bills in check while making massive investments to reduce the country’s import dependence. 

The cost of buying 16% of shares the government doesn’t already own, plus any outstanding convertible bonds, could be as high as 10 billion euros ($10 billion), Reuters reported on Monday.

Shares of EDF climbed as much as 9.4%, and were trading 5.9% higher at 10.12 euros as of 9:11 a.m. in Paris. 

EDF’s atomic output accounted for 69% of France’s electricity production in 2021, but is set to fall to the lowest in more than three decades this year and won’t fully recover in 2023. That’s because of checks and repairs on small cracks in key pipes at a dozen reactors, combined with regular maintenance and refueling halts at other units.

The slump in the reliability of EDF’s power plants is a growing political issue as European governments are increasingly concerned about security of energy supply as Russian gas supplies dwindle. 

In addition to nationalizing the power generator, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said last week that EDF’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Bernard Levy, who is 67 and took the helm in 2014, will step down. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.