News item | 01-07-2022 | 17:15
The new Energy Act will become the legal foundation of the energy transition. This act replaces the current Gas Act and Electricity Act 1998 and provides a future-proof legislative framework for the changing electricity and gas market and energy system. For example, the bill regulates consumer protection, offers grid operators more options to tackle the full electricity grid, offers households and companies more options for active participation in the energy market and ensures secure and controlled data exchange between grid operators, market parties and energy consumers. The new law clarifies and simplifies, and removes unnecessary differences between regulations for gas and electricity. This is important to be able to move forward with the energy transition.
The Energy Act is comprehensive and requires a long preparation time. Many stakeholders from the energy sector and beyond have actively contributed to the development of the bill in recent years. Various agreements from the Climate Agreement have also been incorporated into the bill. There are separate processes for regulations on heat and hydrogen.
Household protection
The new Energy Act offers all end customers, in particular households, the self-employed and small businesses, more rights and protection. Such as better contractual protection with regard to transparent terms, cancellation, invoicing and complaint handling. And about offering dynamic energy contracts. In addition, the new Energy Act contains more measures to prevent mala fide energy suppliers from obtaining a permit. To this end, the authority of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets to assess this will be expanded.
Full grid approach
The new Energy Act gives grid operators more options to tackle problems with the full electricity grid. For example, by being able to make reserved, unused transport capacity available (‘use it or lose it’). The new legislation also allows grid operators to offer more flexible transport contracts and thus make smarter use of the existing space on the grid.
Active participation in the market
In addition, the new Energy Act offers electricity buyers the opportunity to actively participate in the energy market, either independently or in groups. This is possible, for example, by participating in an energy community (such as an energy cooperative) that sells and supplies self-produced electricity. Or by participating in market services related to demand response, in which customers adjust their energy consumption on the basis of current market prices.
exchanging data
The bill contains a new system for the exchange of data, which makes it easier for households and companies to view or share their own data with a service provider such as a price comparator or energy consumption manager. In addition, the bill provides clear frameworks for measurements, data quality, privacy, identification, protection and security of energy data.
The Council of Ministers has agreed to send the bill to the Council of State for advice. The text of the bill and the advice of the Council of State will be made public when it is submitted to the House of Representatives. When the bill is sent to the House of Representatives, Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy will request that it be dealt with quickly.