The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and ACER, the pan-European energy regulator, have published their joint Market Monitoring Report for 2023 (click here). The report focuses on the challenges faced by energy consumers in 2022 due to significant increases in wholesale energy prices which led to higher retail energy prices. The report suggests the need for a closer examination of retailer behaviour and consumer contract clauses. It also highlights the importance of incentivising positive energy consumption patterns, improving energy efficiency, and targeting support measures to benefit vulnerable consumers. It also emphasizes the importance of a well-balanced approach to address the impact of high energy prices while still supporting the energy transition.
The recommendations arising from the report are briefly summarised as follows:
- Support measures could be targeted in the future: Reiterated the recommendation from last year’s Energy Retail and Consumer Protection report that Member States should ensure that financial support measures are targeted and aimed at those most in need;
- Need for more tracking and monitoring of the uptake by consumers of different types of contracts: Reiterated the recommendation from last year’s Energy Retail and Consumer Protection report that national regulators should track and monitor the uptake of all types of retail energy contracts (fixed, flexible, dynamic etc.) in their retail energy markets as greater visibility of the contracts chosen by consumers can contribute to a better understanding of how suppliers follow the trends and developments in the market alongside consumers’ preferences;
- Independent, market-wide comparison tools should fully meet the criteria set out in Directive 2019/944: Comparison tools do not yet fully meet the requirements set out in Article 14 of Directive 2019/944 hence ACER and CEER reiterate their recommendation that NRAs review the compliance of the independent, market-wide comparison tools available in their Member States;
- Consumers should receive complete and clear bills that are easy to understand: ACER and CEER reiterate their previous recommendation that energy bills do not yet fully meet the criteria set out in Directive 2019/944 and that suppliers should undertake a review of the bills issued to consumers in their markets and take steps to ensure compliance without delay;
- Well targeted consumer information campaigns should help consumers engage with rapidly evolving market situations: ACER and CEER reiterate their previous recommendation that national regulators, energy suppliers and network operators regularly inform energy consumers of the best times to consume energy, with the aim of levelling the demand curve, which can reduce prices for all consumers;
- Better management of the increasing number of consumer complaints through enhanced monitoring of complaints to obtain valuable insights on necessary improvements: ACER and national regulators will work together to explore common ways to define, register, categorise and monitor complaints, taking account of the national regulators’ duties as outlined in Directive 2019/944;
- Suppliers to inform consumers of their monthly consumption and energy expenditure on a monthly basis to enhance consumer awareness: Suppliers, at a minimum, should offer to provide consumers with monthly consumption data (which could be estimated on the basis of previous readings) to inform them of both their consumption and their energy costs.
The full report is a lengthy 114 pages. Compliance or regulatory affairs professionals with interests in retail markets may find further value in examining the report in detail.