Brussels, 18/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Although pointing out a very healthy level of cooperation between itself and national regulators, ACER, the European energy regulators cooperation agency, warns that its work is being hampered by lack of resources.
Invited to brief the European Parliament on its work programme for 2013, Alberto Pototschnig, the director of ACER (which was set up following introduction of the third batch of EU legislation on the energy market on 3 March 2011), said along with the chair of the regulator council, Lord John Mogg, on 11 July that there was a very healthy level of cooperation with national regulatory authorities. ACER, which is based in Ljubljana, is responsible for ensuring a transparent energy market for consumers, but although its work is going well, Mogg said it was suffering from a lack of resources to carry out its work properly. Pototschnig said ACER's work programme was a challenge because it has been given a greater role with the large amount of new legislation that had come on stream, like the third liberalisation package, the gas and electricity directives, and the regulation on the wholesale market, not to mention the infrastructure rules.
Among its priorities for 2013, ACER must complete its work on the guidelines, draft an opinion on cross-border grids, expand its monitoring of the energy market, implement the wholesale market regulation, work on the infrastructure package and select projects of common interest. It will be helping the Commission on electricity-related tariff issues, give advice on the ten-year gas development plan and issue a report on costs for managers of transport networks and grids. ACER is hugely dependent on national regulatory authorities, which are themselves facing budget cuts, and needs both more qualified staff and more money, said Pototschnig, stressing particularly the 15 more people needed to ensure proper implementation of the wholesale regulation. (EH/transl.fl)