General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Ministry plans legal protection for PPC securitization plan

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An energy ministry draft bill concerning power utility PPC’s restructuring, forwarded for public consultation yesterday, includes terms offering the utility legal protection for its plan to securitize unpaid receivables.

The terms are designed to counter various arguments that could be raised by defendants, including breach of personal data, through the European Commission’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

PPC is planning to securitize unpaid receivables for sale to funds. The protection terms are intended to quell any fears of prospective buyers.

Prospective buyers are currently conducting due diligence via PPC’s data room. A large number of funds are believed to be interest in the power utility’s sale of securitized unpaid receivables, sources informed.

PPC has toughened its stance against debtors believed to be capable but unwilling to cover their electricity bill arrears, the objective being to present prospective buyers an improved collection record.

Investors are expected to submit offers to PPC once all data has been fully analyzed. It will then be up to the power utility to decide if it will go ahead with its securitization effort.

According to an early plan, two respective packages containing 60 and 90-day packages of unpaid receivables worth a total of between one and 1.5 billion euros could be offered to investors.

Heron, seeking improved retail presence, plans 15 outlets in 12 months

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Energy retailer Heron plans to have established a retail network of 15 company-owned outlets, three of these in Athens, the others throughout Greece, over the next twelve months, company officials have announced.

The plan reflects a wider market trend through which the country’s independent suppliers are opening stores of their own rather than relying on retail outlet collaborations with other firms, primarily mobile telephony companies, for market exposure.

Greek market consumers have rated as positive the prospect of being able to have direct contact with energy suppliers through retail outlets of their own, market research conducted by Heron has shown, company officials noted.

The benefits of the move are expected to eventually outweigh the high cost of maintaining a retail network, Heron officials anticipate.

“Under normal conditions, such an investment would not be justified, but the sector is still acquiring shape and Heron is a company that has decided it wants to play a leading role,” company head Giorgos Kouvaris told energypress, adding the move will bolster the brand name and customer services offered.

An EU-imposed GDPR personal data protection regulation has limited the ability of independent energy retailers to seek new customers over the phone.

 

Independent suppliers opening own outlets for market gains

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The country’s independent electricity and natural gas supply companies are, one by one, launching their own retail outlets as a means of bolstering their brand names and providing improved customer services for market gains.

This comes as an extra step following retail collaborations with electronic and telecommunication retailers as well as efforts to lure new customers through call centers and company websites.

Market research conducted by some of these energy sector retailers has indicated a need for improved customer services.

Also GDPR personal data protection restrictions imposed by the European Commission in the EU has limited the ability of firms to reach prospective new customers over the telephone.

In the retail electricity market, power utility PCC remains the dominant player.

The Mytilineos group’s Protergia opened its first Thessaloniki retail outlet last September and also operates outlets in Athens’ Neo Iraklio and Nea Erythrea suburbs.

Heron plans to open its first Athens outlet (140 Kifissias Ave) on June 10. The company, a member of the GEK Terna group, already operates two stores in Thiva (central Greece) and Crete.

Elpedison launched a Thessaloniki outlet on May 21 and also operates a store at 283 Kifissias Ave in Athens.

Watt+Volt is set to launch an outlet in the capital’s Halandri district in a few days and plans to soon launch a further four outlets. It currently operates 20 outlets in 18 cities around the country.

GDPR rule hampering efforts of independent energy suppliers

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The European Commission’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), whose implementation earlier this year, on May 25, has limited enterprises heavily reliant on telephone marketing practices for business, represents an additional difficulty for independent electricity and natural gas suppliers seeking to make market share gains but already impeded by narrow profit margins.

The GDPR measure, carrying hefty fines for offenders, has set back the ability of electricity and natural gas suppliers to communicate directly with potential customers via telephone, seen as a crucial marketing tool prior to the data protection regulation’s introduction.

Consumers have already filed legal cases against certain independent suppliers for violations of the new EU data protection regulation. Legal department officials of energy supply firms have needed to counter an increasing number of cases and expect more to come.

The new rule forbids personal data from being used by enterprises if consumers have not previously provided their full consent. Violators face hefty penalties reaching as much as 20 million euros or 4 percent of company revenues.

 

Most firms not ready for personal data protection rule, study finds

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The majority of Greek firms have yet to adapt their business models to comply with a new personal data protection rule to soon be introduced by the European Commission, SEV, the Hellenic Association of Industrialists, has concluded in a special report published yesterday.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a strict measure carrying hefty fines, is set to be implemented on May 25.

Enterprises heavily reliant on telephone marketing practices for business, including independent electricity suppliers seeking market share gains amid the liberalized Greek electricity market, have expressed concerns ahead of the GDPR measure.

Independent electricity suppliers have noted the rule’s implementation will severely restrict their ongoing efforts to increase retail electricity market shares.

The new rule will forbid personal data from being used by enterprises if consumers have not previously provided their full consent. Violators will face hefty penalties reaching as much as 4 percent of company revenues.

The imminent measure’s impact is expected to be widespread, reaching well beyond the electricity market. According to a study conducted by the business services group ICAP in December, based on a sample of 2,010 enterprises, nearly one in four firms said they have not yet taken any measures to comply with the personal data protection measure, while 57.7 percent noted that they partially complying.

Quite obviously, the majority of firms need to make adjustments to their operating plans in the little time that remains before the GDPR rule is imposed.

Another study conducted last month by SEV, the local industrialists group, based on a sample of 35 enterprises, showed that eight in ten firms have either partially adjusted their marketing practices or taken no action at all, ahead of the new personal data protection rule.

SEV rated the degree of readiness of Greek enterprises as medium. Smaller firms, in particular, have plenty of work to do, the association concluded.

The association, in its report, questions whether Greek enterprises will view the personal data protection rule as yet another regulatory obligation or as an opportunity for business model revisions in line with the global digital economy.

The association noted that enterprises willing to embrace personal data protection rules stand to ultimately gain as the adjustment, a gesture of respect for consumers and personal data, will provide a comparative advantage in the marketplace.

 

 

EU personal data protection rule to impede suppliers seeking gains

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A new personal data protection rule to soon be introduced by the European Commission promises to provide a further obstacle for independent suppliers seeking to increase their share of Greece’s retail electricity market.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a strict measure carrying hefty fines, is set to be implemented on May 25.

The regulation promises to severely restrict the ongoing efforts of independent power suppliers in Greece, which, amid intensifying competition generated by the liberalized power market, are relying heavily on telephone marketing practices, either alone or through commissioned call-center services, to lure new customers.

The new rule will forbid personal data from being used by enterprises if individuals have not previously provided their full consent.

Local company officials told energypress that the EU’s personal data protection initiative threatens to undermine the most effective tool available to independent suppliers for direct contact with prospective new customers – until they adjust to the new framework.

According to the rule, violators will face penalties reaching as much as 4 percent of company revenues.