2007

ERGEG Position Paper on Smart Metering with a Focus on Electricity Regulation
Ref. E07-RMF-04-03, 31 October 2007

Starting with the analysis of existing or planned smart metering schemes, this document lists some recommendations for regulators and some policy options adoptable by them, according to both types of metering frameworks established in EU Member States: regulated and liberalised. Due to the country-specific role of regulators with regard to metering arrangements, some of the results of this report might not be relevant to all regulators or applicable to the individual Member States. The powers and responsibilities of the national regulatory agencies differ from country to country as does the situation regarding both metering and market opening. It is therefore difficult to draw general conclusions which are fully applicable to all countries.

ERGEG's response to the EC's public consultation "Towards a European Charter of the Rights of Energy Consumers"
Ref. E07-CFG-15-03, 12 September 2007

ERGEG's response to the European Commission’s public consultation document "Towards a European Charter of the Rights of Energy Consumers", welcomes the Commission's initiative to address the need for effective consumer protection in the electricity and gas markets. It is imperative to focus on the legislative, technical and administrative structures that are needed in order to allow consumers to actively participate to the energy market. ERGEG supports the Commission’s initiative to present key goals in a short and comprehensible document. ERGEG believes the Charter should specify its aims, status and target group as well as provide basic information on electricity and gas markets for consumers. The ERGEG recommendations to the Charter seek to clarify and complement the scope and definition on the issues such as the protection of vulnerable customers, energy bills and supplier switching.

ERGEG Position Paper on End-user Price Regulation
Ref. E07-CPR-10-03, 18 July 2007

Following its June 2007 status review of end-user price regulation among EU Member States, this ERGEG Position Paper presents the following messages:

  1. Regulated end-user energy prices distort the functioning of the market and jeopardise both security of supply and the efforts to fight climate change. Therefore end-user price regulation should be abolished.
  2. Protecting “vulnerable customers” remains necessary in a competitive market but the protection of “vulnerable customers” should not be confused with maintaining regulated prices for all (or certain categories of) customers. The tools used for the protection of vulnerable customers must work in line with and support the pre-requisites of open, competitive markets.
  3. Transition periods towards well functioning competition (e.g. co-existence of regulated and market prices) may be necessary to protect customers from potential abuses of dominant positions. It is essential that countries in a transition period draw up an individual road map. ERGEG calls on Member States to rapidly remove regulated prices and to outline (by 1 July 2008) a roadmap towards competitive markets by removing regulated prices.
  4. Even in Member States where there is only one supplier, ERGEG urges the Member State governments and regulators to act rapidly so as to create an environment to attract the new entry of suppliers by removing regulated end-user prices.  

Status review on end user prices regulation
Ref. E07-CPR-08-04, 14 June 2007

ERGEG has reviewed the status of end-user price regulation for electricity and natural gas in EU27. The survey assesses the effects on market functioning of Member States' maintaining regulated energy prices. ERGEG has found that regulated end-uers prices continue to co-exist with market prices in many countries (9 for gas, 17 for electricity). More than 80% of eligible customers choose to stay on the regulated prices, indicating a serious lack of competition in the retail market in these countries. For example, in Spain and France, where eligible customers can opt to stay on regulated prices set by government, 54% of small business customers were still supplied by their local default supplier (on regulated tariffs), and in the case of France it was 89%. ERGEG considers end-user prices to be distortionary and calls on Member States to abolish them.

GGP and Status Review - Obstacles to switching in the gas retail market
Ref. E06-CSW-05-03, 18 April 2007

These Guidelines of Good Practice and accompanying Status Review present additional recommendations to the three sets of best practice propositions (BPPs) presented by ERGEG in 2006. They bring forward practical rules for market opening, customer and supplier information and supplier switching that aim at increasing liquidity and facilitating supplier switching in the gas retail market.