Energy markets: Commission wants price controls

Strict regulation of electricity and gas prices may be part of the Commission’s upcoming proposal on energy market liberalisation, according to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, which obtained a leaked draft of the proposal.

In an apparent effort to prevent price gouging and to ensure transparency for customers and new market entrants, the Commission may oblige electricity and gas providers to report prices, customer names, quantities and contract durations to national energy regulators, according to Handelsblatt.

Concerning the issue of ownership unbundling, the leaked draft confirms indications made by a member of EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs’ cabinet in late July 2007: the Commission wants to give power-producing companies the option to either sell off their transmission-system assets or maintain ownership, but only under the condition that transmission-system operating powers are transferred to an Independent System Operator (ISO – see EURACTIV 1/08/07). 

National energy regulators would be mandated to oversee ISO arrangements by scrutinising the independence of network operators from producer companies, and by imposing sanctions on utilities if necessary.

A pan-European energy regulator would also be created with the authority to oversee the individual national regulators. 

The Commission has declined to comment on the content of the draft, but a spokesperson has stated that the leak has caused “a lot of trouble” inside the EU executive.

The proposal is scheduled for formal adoption by the Commission on 19 September 2007.

Read more with Euractiv

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The second half of 2007 promises renewed tensions as legislators prepare to hammer out the EU's future energy policy. Controversial Commission proposals on energy market liberalisation are due in September, with renewables and CO2 burden-sharing proposals scheduled for the end of the year.