Energy firms primarily active in transboundary electricity trade are seeking European Commission support in an effort to prevent the adoption, in Greece, of restrictions – including indirect measures – on exports of electricity amounts secured at local NOME auctions.

Traders were prompted into action by a Greek Energy Exchange proposal forwarded to a public consultation procedure staged by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, calling for NOME-related electricity exports to be sold at just under the System Marginal Price (SMP), or wholesale price, rather than lower prices secured at the auctions.

NOME auctions were introduced about two years ago to offer independent energy firms access to the main power utility PPC’s lower-cost lignite and hydrocarbon sources as a means of breaking the utility’s retail electricity market dominance.

In their appeal, export-minded traders have cited the EU’s free-trade principle as their main argument. It is not yet clear how the European Commission could respond.