CEER Customer Conference 2023

Meet our Speakers

 

Welcome Address

Annegret Groebel, President, Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER)

Dr Annegret Groebel is Director of International Relations at the German Regulatory Authority for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA). Dr Groebel has worked for BNetzA since 1998. She has been CEER President since January 2019 and was a Vice President of CEER since 2012. She also has chaired the CEER Market Integrity and Transparency (MIT) Working Group since 2013. She is a member of the Board of Regulators of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). Dr Groebel has a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Mannheim. She is also involved in the work of the Independent Regulators Group (IRG) and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

 

Nicolás González Casares, MEP and Rapporteur for Electricity Market Design Proposal

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Dave Keating, Journalist & Moderator

Dave Keating is an American-European journalist based in Brussels who moderates live events. He is ranked as the number one EU politics social media influencer by ZN Consulting and the second most influential EU observer in 2022, coming third in 2020 and 2021. Dave is the Brussels correspondent for France 24. Previously he was the editor of EuropeanVoice.com, a side publication of The Economist. Before arriving in Brussels in 2010, Dave covered the boardrooms of London, the US Congress in Washington, the cafés of Paris, the politics of Prague, the courtrooms of Chicago and the streets of New York City.

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Session I: Customer engagement – lessons from the energy crisis in a digital era

Marine Cornelis, Founder & Executive Director at Next Energy Consumer

Marine Cornelis is behind Next Energy Consumer, an international policy consultancy at the forefront of the social aspects of energy and climate transitions. Marine is passionate about empowering people and communities as we move towards a greener, more sustainable future. She combines her expertise in consumer rights advocacy with a deep commitment to democratisation, decentralisation, digitalisation and decarbonisation of energy systems. Her work pays special attention to under-represented population segments, such as women and ethnic minorities. Through her work, she acts as a bridge between civil society, scientific communities, businesses and policymakers. Her Energ’Ethic podcast highlights the inspiring individuals driving worldwide improvement in energy and climate fronts. Her vision has earned her recognition as one of the first ambassadors of the European Climate Pact. She works in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

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Monique Goyens, BEUC Director General

As Director General of BEUC, Monique represents 46 national consumer associations in 32 European countries, acting as a strong consumer voice in Brussels, ensuring that consumer interests are given weight in the development of policies. Monique is a member of the Euro Retail Payments Board, as well as of the European Commission’s Consumer Policy Advisory Group, Monique is Co-Chair of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) a network of EU and US consumer organisations.

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Justin Pagden, Representative of Agem – Dutch Energy Community

Justin Pagden (male) is business developer at Agem and has a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Hogeschool of Utrecht and a Minor in Energy and Sustainable Development from the University of Utrecht. From the start of his career he has worked in a start-up environment focused on sustainability. Justin was one of three pioneers that started Agem in 2013 and has been responsible for the development and running of the business units Agem Levering BV (energy supplier), Agem Gemeentelijke Energie (energy supplierfor the municipalities) and Agem Energieloket (Energy efficiency), as well as customer support and IT. Justin is now responsible for innovation within the company.

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Natalie McCoy, CEER CRM WG Co-Chair

Ms McCoy joined Portugal’s Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) in 2016 to lead its international relations. Prior to ERSE, she served as Secretary General of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) between 2011 and 2015. In addition to her responsibilities at ERSE, Natalie co-chairs the CEER Customers and Retail Markets Working Group, following three years as vice chair. She also co-chairs the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) Retail Working Group, established in 2021. In parallel, she serves as co-chair of CEER’s Gas Decarbonisation Legislation Workstream, since September 2016. Natalie has more than fifteen years’ experience in energy regulation, focusing on customer rights, regulatory governance and electricity and gas market design. With an academic background in political science and EU affairs, she worked at the European Parliament prior to moving into energy regulation.

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Anna Johansson, Vice-Chair of the Customers & Retail Services Committee at Eurelectric

Anna Johansson is working as Senior Portfolio Owner at Vattenfall AB. Her main responsibilities are strategic business development and regulatory affairs in the electricity retail industry. Anna is vice-chair in Eurelectric’s Retail and Customer Services Committee. She is a member of the Swedish industry organisation Swedenergy’s Council for electricity retail markets since 2017. Anna joined Vattenfall in 2013, and has since held various positions with regulatory change as the key focus area in combination with different commercial roles. Anna has a broad background from both the energy as well as consumer goods industries. Prior to joining Vattenfall, she worked with product marketing in BSH Home Appliances and before that at Panasonic. Anna holds a MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University, Sweden.

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Els Bruggeman, Head of Policy and Enforcement at Test-Achats & Euroconsumers

Els Bruggeman is Head of Policy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers, a leading consumer cluster that gathers five national consumer organisations: Test Achats (Belgium), Altroconsumo (Italy), OCU (Spain), Deco Proteste (Porugal) and Proteste (Brazil). Together they represent almost 1,5 million consumers. Based at Test Achats, Els is responsible for the coordination of all policy related issues, with a specific focus on digital and sustainability, and the joint enforcement cases, e.g. the class actions against Volkswagen (Dieselgate) and Apple (premature obsolescence) that were launched in Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Els joined the consumer movement in 2014 when she started working as EU Public Affairs advisor for the Belgian consumer organisation Test Achats/Test Aankoop. Before she was active for more than 10 years in the political world, both as policy advisor and spokesperson i.a. for the Belgian minister of consumer protection. Els Bruggeman has master degrees in both History and Law, and advanced masters in both International Politics and Conflict & Development Studies. She is a member of the Executive Board of BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation.

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Session II: EmPowered Consumers – avenues for a post crisis energy transition

Adela Tesarova, Head of Unit for Consumers, Local Initiatives, Just Transition (ENER B.1), European Commission

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Jean-Michel Glachant, Professor at La Sorbonne and at the Florence School of Regulation (FSR)

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Jana Haasová, Vice President of the Council of European Energy Regulators

Since joining the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) in 2015, Ms. Haasová was responsible for various international dossiers, strategy, innovations in the energy sector and first and foremost consumer protection issues. Since 2018, Ms. Haasová is in charge of the International Affairs Department. Jana joined CEER CRM WG in 2016 and in 2018 she became Co-Chair of IRM WS. During this period, she took part in drafting reports, whitepapers and recommendations for EU energy community. Since early 2020, she is also representing ERO at the CEER General Assembly and ACER Board of Regulators. Jana co-chairs the CEER CRM WG, and also co-chairs the ACER Retail WG. Since November 2022 Ms. Haasová is Vice President of CEER. Prior to working at ERO, she held a position in Czech DSO, media and transport sectors. Ms. Haasová has a degree at the University of Economics in Prague in International trade and Business law.

 

Liesbeth Switten, AIB Secretary-General

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Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary at the European Trade Union Confederation

Before being elected as Confederal Secretary at the ETUC’s May 2019 Congress, Ludovic Voet was national youth leader of the Belgian CSC union from July 2015. As President of Young CSC, he was responsible for the development of young people’s action within the union organisations (federations and local unions), external representation, organising, affiliation and lobbying. Ludovic’s responsibilities at the ETUC cover sustainable development and climate change, migration, youth policy, non-standard work and the platform economy, education and training, and equality and non-discrimination, plus organising.

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Jad Mouawad, Head of Communications and Digital at IEA

Jad Mouawad is the head of the IEA’s Communication and Digital Office where he oversees media relations, digital and social media strategy, publications, product strategy and sales, and is responsible for the Agency’s digitalization efforts. Before he joined the IEA in 2016, he was a reporter for The New York Times where he served as the global energy correspondent, and reported on a variety of topics, including airlines, transportation, and the global energy industry. He joined the Times in 2004 after working at Bloomberg News, where he covered energy, oil and gas companies, OPEC, media and telecoms. Mr Mouawad holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University and a master’s degree in political science from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

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Manuel García Hernández, Director General for Mines and Energy Policy at the Spanish Ministry

Manuel García Hernández holds a Degree in Industrial Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Electricity and Power Systems (UPCO-ICAI, Madrid, 2000) and a Master´s Degree in Public Administration (Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge MA, 2012). He has worked in the public sector in Spain since 2005, having senior-level positions in the Ministries for Energy, Industry, Trade, Telecommunications and Tourism. Prior to his public service career, he worked in the engineering and consulting industries. Since 2020, Manuel García is the Director General for Energy Policy and Mining (DGPEYM) , at the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographical Challenge of the Government of Spain. Before being appointed DG, he was the Deputy Director General for Electricity. As DGPEYM, Manuel is responsible for the regulation of the energy markets, including electricity, oil&gas or the new sustainable fuels, the design of supporting schemes for renewables and energy efficiency or the policies regarding critical materials. He has taken an active part in the design and negotiation of the so-called “Iberian mechanism” and the Spanish proposal for a reform of the internal electricity market. Manuel García is and has been a member of the board of several public companies and organizations operating in the energy and industry sectors.

 

Charles Esser, Secretary General, Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER)

Charles Esser is (since April 2019) the Secretary General of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), where he previously worked with the Customers and Retail Markets Working Group and the Distribution Systems Working Group. Charles has also worked as a self-employed Energy Consultant for a wide variety of organisations, as an analyst for the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Energy Analyst for the NGO/think tank the International Crisis Group. He has a master’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University – SAIS.

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Click here for more information about the event, to download the agenda, and to register.