Brussels, 11/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday in Brussels, the Green/EFA group presented the results of a European study on "Origins for Electricity labels", which is part of the "Consumer Choice and Carbon Consciousness for Electricity" (4C Electricity). Luxembourg MEP, Claude Turmes attended, (who was also rapporteur on the liberalisation of the single electricity market), as well as Christophe Timpe, co-author of 4C Electricity and Ed Holt, US expert on information on the electricity origins. The study was funded by the EU Altener Programme, for which the final report should be published in October 2003 and which provides proposals for putting into place an electricity label system contained in the revised proposal on the directive on gas and electricity internal markets of 7 June 2002.
The goal is to provide consumers with a bill containing: basic information on the company providing the electricity, the origins of the energy used (classified into three categories: fossil fuel, nuclear, renewable), environmental impact (CO2 emissions, nuclear waste), and the annual or monthly cost for electricity products. Claude Turmes explained that, "Transparency in electricity bills is essential for European consumers. The goal is to allow them to make an informed choice on the energy they use and want to use". Christophe Timpe also pointed out that the, "necessity to know the origin of the electricity used exists in other Commission draft directives, such as those on renewable energy and co-generation". A system for energy traceability is also going to be developed in order to ensure the energy's origin. Two options are envisaged with a system based on 1) a certificate or 2) the contract between the generator and supplier (which must be systematically indicate the energy source). The authors of the study are also calling for the system to be compulsory: Member States will be responsible for implementing it and checking that it is applied. They are convinced that its cost, backed up by consumers will not be high. According to Christophe Timpe, by basing the system on that in the USA - USD 0.01 per 1,000 KWH and by multiplying it by 10 for the most pessimistic scenario - we get a price of +/- EUR 0.1 per 1, 000 KWH. Based on average annual consumption of KWH 3,5000 for a German family, Mr Timpe obtains a cost of EUR 0.35 per year. Eurelectric claims that, "if it is legitimate for consumers to have information on the origin of their electricity, this traceability is extremely complicated in a liberalised market as the sources and operators are so many that the setting up of such a system will be very heavy and cost more to the consumer".
The Danish Presidency has produced a proposal on the subject but Christophe Timpe believes that it is "too vague". It is due to be discussed at the Energy Council on 3 October but Mr Turmes believes that it won't be ready.