Brussels, 29/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - A large majority on the Committee of the Regions' commission on energy, environment and climate voted on Thursday 25 February to approve the draft opinion prepared by Michel Lebrun (EPP, Belgium) on the “new deal” for energy consumers proposed by the Commission in summer 2015 as part of the proposed energy union (see EUROPE 11358).
Lebrun's draft opinion, which will be put to the vote in Assembly of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) at the plenary session on 7-8 April, argues that consumers should be able to become active players in the energy market in terms of both demand (controlling consumption by means of new technology) and supply (decentralised renewable energy generation), and highlights the energy price comparison tool that has been introduced in Wallonia as a model that could be shared.
The lack of information on energy consumption and costs in electricity bills, growing charges, difficulties in switching electricity supplier, barriers to self-generation and self-consumption of energy and the slow uptake of available technologies, such as smart meters are some of the obstacles to stronger consumer involvement in energy markets highlighted by the draft opinion.
“European consumers deserve to be empowered so they can better control their own energy consumption and reduce bills. Citizens should also be able to become 'prosumers' by producing clean energy for their own consumption, as well as sharing it with others”, said Lebrun.
His proposals include facilitating access to information through standardisation of electricity bills, creating a clear, easy to read model that allows comparison across the EU, similar to the price comparison tool in use in Wallonia that allows everyone to access the supplier price that best suits their needs. The draft opinion also calls for an EU regulation to remove complex procedures and reduce the time taken to switch energy supplier.
Consumer protection is at the heart of the concerns of Lebrun's draft opinion: he calls for a strict framework for the security and protection of private data with regard to smart meters, price safeguards to protect consumers and closer monitoring of commercial practices in the energy sector.
Lastly, the draft opinion underlines the key role that local and regional authorities have in the implementation of the new deal for energy consumers, since it is these same authorities which, in most cases, are “responsible for creating and financing infrastructure for the distribution, metering and management of energy demand and decentralised production”. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)