This month, CEER hosted 4 separate events where we shared expertise with fellow regulators from Africa, the Eastern Partnership countries and the US (see our international section below).
Removing barriers to entry for energy suppliers is our feature article (below), following the release of our report on this matter.
We published 2 interesting reports on unbundling, one on Transmission System Operator (TSO) and the other on Distribution System Operator (DSO) unbundling. Each covers the status of electricity and gas unbundling in Europe.
Feature: Removing Barriers to Entry in Retail Markets
CEER promotes competitive and innovative retail markets CEER believes that retail markets should be competitive, innovative and with involved consumers. (see CEER paper on well-functioning retail markets). For retail energy markets to work well, new electricity/gas suppliers must be able to enter into and compete in the market. New entrants can force existing suppliers to adapt their strategies and compete in new and innovative ways (e.g. a new service or pricing structure). Removing barriers to entry can have a positive outcome for consumers, helping to deliver CEER’s 2020 vision for Europe’s energy customers.
Barriers to Entry CEER’s report on removing barriers to entry identifies 4 categories of barriers to entry into retail gas and electricity markets, and showcases actions regulators are taking to remove them.
Barriers to market access • Lack of access to customer and market information from a supplier's perspective • Lack of Price transparency • Wholesale market functioning
Regulatory barriers • Regulated end-user prices • Lack of consideration for innovation in regulation • Inefficient unbundling of distribution and supply companies • Legislation changes
Differences in processes and standards • Billing format and IT systems • Business processes • Data management • Switching processes
Barriers specific to cross-border entrants • Languages and cultures • Different system/laws
Next Steps CEER will develop Guidelines of Good Practice on removing suppliers’ barriers to entry.
• CEER Benchmarking report on removing barriers to entry for energy suppliers • CEER Status Review on DSO Unbundling • CEER Status Review on TSO Unbundling
International
CEER welcomed 13 energy regulators from Africa. Energy security was the common theme of both the joint CEER-European Commission Eastern Partnership workshop in Vilnius and a workshop we hosted with the IEA in Paris. Wholesale market monitoring, integrated grids and cyber security were just some of the topics discussed with our American colleagues EU-US regulatory roundtable in Madrid. Click here for further information on our international activities.
