| Press Release 18-06 Energy regulators engage with consumers on how to enable digitalisation
and protect consumers from its risks • Enabling digitalisation that works for consumers
• Cybersecurity: making the energy sector more resilient to cyber attacks “Digitalisation: opportunities and how to avoid risks for consumers” was the focus of the 2018 customer conference of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER)1. This event gathered consumer body representatives to share their views with regulators, European Commission officials, and energy and digitalisation specialists on how to engage and protect consumers in the context of the new (Clean Energy and the New Deal for consumers) EU legislation. Enabling digitalisation that works for consumers
CEER’s strategic objective on digitalisation is to:
• Foster competitive European markets that protect and empower consumers;
• Enable cost-savings for consumers using digitalisation with a whole energy system approach;
• Ensure an agile regulatory framework enables innovation while ensuring a level playing field;
• Strengthen cooperation among sectoral regulators, consumer protection authorities, etc. to ensure consumers are protected as traditional energy markets are reinvented. Cyber security: making the energy sector more resilient to cyber attacks
The wave of digitalisation in the energy sector creates additional risks (including cyber risks) and brings with it a need to protect consumers.
According to CEER President, Garrett Blaney:
“Energy regulators can play an important role as enablers of digitalisation to benefit consumers. Regulators consider up-front additional risks (including cyber risks) before any relevant investment is approved. Hence our efforts to analyse what digitalisation means for the consumer and the role of regulators in stimulating positive change. If new technologies are consumer-friendly, then consumers can be empowered to engage more in energy markets, for example by providing greater flexibility in their consumption and thereby reducing costs for themselves and the system as a whole”. CEER’s recent digitalisation-related work includes:
- CEER’s Cyber Security report2 which sets out regulators recommendations for achieving a more cyber secure energy market (October 2018)2;
- CEER’s Smart Technology Development report3 on customer-driven smart technology development (June 2018);
- CEER’s public consultation on its 3D Strategy (June 2018) which proposed Digitalisation, Decarbonisation and Dynamic Regulation as 3 strategic objectives for the next 3 years; and
- CEER’s upcoming public consultation on digitalisation of the energy sector (expected in March 2019) What’s next?
CEER will, in the coming weeks, publish its Retail Markets Monitoring Report. CEER is also working on new and improved metrics to monitor retail markets. Consumers will remain a core focus of the 2019 work programme which next year’s work, could be worth mentioning that we will be working on recommendations on dynamic price implementation. Brussels, 30 September 2018 Ends - see Notes for Editors | 
