Network usage surcharge cut for energy-intensive consumers

Network usage surcharge revisions soon planned by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, to apply for 2021, are expected to reduce surcharge costs for industrial consumers and, on the contrary,  increase those of households.

Power grid operator IPTO, responding to a RAE request, has forwarded its recommendation on the matter following a related study that examined whether leeway exists to reduce network usage surcharges for high-voltage industries and energy-intensive enterprises of the medium-voltage category – consumers with annual consumption levels exceeding 13 GWh.

The IPTO study concluded that surcharges can be reduced for energy-intensive industries to levels that apply for major-scale consumers in other European countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands.

IPTO’s guaranteed annual earnings do not change, meaning that a network usage surcharge reduction for industrial consumers will automatically prompt an increase for all other consumer categories, namely medium and low-voltage consumers.

The energy ministry is pursuing a policy aiming to reduce energy costs for the industrial sector.

Network usage costs are also expected to be revised in 2022 as IPTO is preparing a new formula to determine the distribution of surcharge costs based on latest data concerning electricity consumption shares in the high, medium and low-voltage categories. The latest data favors major-scale consumers, sources informed.

Suppliers summoned to explain overdue surcharge transfers

RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, has summoned power utility PPC and six independent electricity suppliers to hearings for explanations on overdue surcharge amounts they have yet to transfer to three market operators.

The authority had initially requested related data and explanations from suppliers and has now taken a further step by deciding to stage hearings for PPC and two other suppliers, followed by supplementary hearings involving a further four suppliers.

The three market operators, power grid operator IPTO, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and RES market operator DAPEEP, will also be called upon by the authority to offer data on the overdue surcharge transfers by suppliers.

According to sources, RAE authorities are examining a variety of surcharges, including network transmission, distribution network and RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharges, up until October, 2020.

These surcharges, included in electricity bills and paid by consumers as part of their electricity bills, must then be handed over by suppliers to respective operators within a specific time period.

Conditions have recently deteriorated for electricity suppliers, primarily as a result of considerably higher wholesale costs since November’s launch of the target model’s new markets.

Electricity suppliers contend that amounts owed to them by the operators outweigh their unpaid surcharges and, as a result, want accounts offset. RAE has rejected this request.