Ljubljana, 4 January 2023
The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes its Single Programming Document 2023-2025, which includes the:
- ACER’s 2023 Annual Work Programme;
- ACER’s priorities in upcoming years to deliver on its strategic goals; and
- New responsibilities allocated to ACER as part of Europe’s energy crisis response.
Priorities
ACER will continue its work on:
- The completion of the Internal Energy Market and monitoring of its functioning;
- Contributing to the infrastructure and security of supply challenges;
- Increasing integrity and transparency of wholesale energy markets; and
- Longer-term regulatory challenges.
New responsibilities related to Europe’s energy crisis response
A core part of ACER and the national energy regulators’ work in 2023 will continue to be on Europe’s energy crisis response. The Agency takes on news tasks allocated to ACER under the emergency Council regulations (such as creating and publishing daily a new LNG price assessment, and the Market Correction Mechanism), as well several new responsibilities, following the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2022/869 on Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure (“new TEN-E Regulation”).
Source – ACER – Email
CEER and ECRB publish flagship report on quality of energy supply in Europe
Brussels, 22 December 2022
The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) publish today the 7th Benchmarking Report on the Quality of Electricity and Gas Supply, a key document identifying good regulatory practices on the quality of supply in electricity and gas grids that help to safeguard European consumers from energy cuts.
The report, which compiles data from energy regulatory authorities of 39 countries, provides findings and associated recommendations to maintain a good quality of all dimensions of electricity and gas supply for customers across Europe (with some additional data on three Mediterranean countries). Energy stakeholders draw on the data – provided by CEER Members and Observers and the Energy Community Contracting Parties – to forecast long-term trends in Europe and plan investments, while universities and think tanks use it for their research.
One of the main findings reveals that most countries decreased or at least maintained their system sustainability and the number of interruptions per customer from the beginning to the end of the observed period for electricity. The assessment also shows that interruptions in gas, while much less common than those in electricity, can lead to a higher risk of safety, resulting in greater efforts by regulators to avoid them.
“European energy regulators are committed to promoting well-functioning and competitive energy markets in Europe in order to ensure that consumers receive fair prices, a wide choice of suppliers and the best quality of supply, including as much protection from cut-offs as possible. This work is therefore of particular importance in a context of exceptionally high prices and challenging times for European energy markets” says CEER President Annegret Groebel.
“Safeguarding stable and undisrupted electricity and gas supply for energy customers is a central focus of regulatory activities. The 7th Benchmarking Report on the Quality of Electricity and Gas Supply provides a well-elaborated picture of the status quo that will allow us to further progress” ECRB President Marko Bislimoski underlines.
Three major aspects of the quality of supply are addressed in the report. For electricity, they are availability and technical characteristics of grids (continuity of supply), technical properties of supplied electricity (voltage quality), and the speed and accuracy with which customer requests are handled (commercial quality). For gas, these are its availability and technical characteristics of the grid (technical operational quality), its chemical composition (natural gas quality) and the speed and accuracy of handling customer requests (commercial quality).
CEER has routinely surveyed and analysed the quality of electricity (since 2001) and gas supply (since 2016) in European countries and has produced six full Benchmarking Reports as well as regular updates. This 7th edition has complete data from both CEER and ECRB participants raising the total number of fully participating countries and enabling easier benchmarking for most of Europe. While the report draws from the latest available information provided by energy regulators, the data for continuity of supply covers the period of 2010 to 2018.
Download the Press Release here
- The Council of European Energy Regulatory (CEER)is the voice of Europe’s national energy regulators. Its Members and Observers are the independent statutory bodies responsible for energy regulation in 39 European countries. CEER, based in Brussels, deals with a broad range of energy issues including retail markets and consumers; distribution networks; smart grids; flexibility; sustainability; and international cooperation. Further information on the CEER website www.ceer.eu
- The Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) is the independent regional body of energy regulators in the Energy Community and beyond. It is the coordination platform for exchange of knowledge and development of best practices for regulated electricity and gas markets in the Energy Community. Its activities are built on three pillars: providing coordinated regulatory positions to energy policy debates, harmonizing regulatory rules across borders and sharing regulatory knowledge and experience. For more information, visit www.energy-community.org/aboutus/institutions/ECRB.html
Source – CEER – Email