ACER-CEER Launch: Annual report on the results of monitoring the internal electricity and natural gas markets
ACER (Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators) and CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators) recently presented the main findings of their annual Market Monitoring Report on the internal electricity and natural gas markets.
This year, the report comprises a main part and four thematic sections: the retail markets, consumer protection and empowerment, the gas wholesale market and the electricity wholesale market.
The report shows that there has been a downward trend in wholesale prices in Europe for both gas and electricity, partly due to an increase in renewable energy sources and overcapacity. In addition, network use has become more optimised.
In order to increase transparency in the electricity market, the Norwegian Consumer Council has developed a new price comparison tool. In connection with this, NVE proposed new regulation under the Energy Act in 2014 that enables the collection of information for the new price comparison tool. The new regulation significantly improves the ability for consumers to collect information about all electricity contracts and how to switch power supplier. It was adopted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and entered into force 1 April 2015. In the sub-report for the retail market, there is a case study on this price comparison tool.
