ERO presentation

General information
about the Regulator

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Energy Regulatory Office
• Established in 1998 on the basis of the Energy Law Act of
10 April 1997 (Journal of Law of 2012 item 1059, as
amended)
• President of Energy Regulatory Office - central authority
of the state administration
• Authority responsible for regulation in energy sector
as well as promotion of competition
• Executive body, without legislative initiative

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The President of ERO
President of ERO regulates activity of energy enterprises
aiming to balance interests of energy companies
and customers
Mission
• regulation of the activities
of energy companies
• promotion of competition
• balancing the interests
of energy undertakings
and consumers
Sources
competences derive from
Energy law and secondary
legislation
ERO
employees (civil servants)
budget

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SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
COMPETITION
SUSTAINABLE USE
OF THE ENVIRONMENT
ENERGY
SECURITY

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The President of ERO - main competences
Currently the competences of the President of ERO result mainly
from the Energy Law Act and cover e.g. the following activities:
• granting and withdrawing licenses,
• appointing systems operators,
• approving transmission and distribution network codes,
• agreeing energy enterprises draft development plans,
• approving and controlling tariffs’ application,
• issuing and redeeming certificates of origin for electricity from
renewable sources and from co-generation,

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The President of ERO - main competences
• setting forth methods of controlling and undertaking actions to
improve efficiency of energy enterprises,
• collecting and processing information relating to energy
enterprises,
• imposing fines,
• promoting competition on the energy market in cooperation with
other authorities,
• controlling the quality standards of customer service and
controlling, on the request of the customer, the quality
parameters for gaseous fuels and electric energy,
• settling disputes,
• monitoring the operation of gas and power systems.

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Energy regulator’s activities comprise of creating conditions for
developing competition and preventing negative effects of natural
monopoly, promoting sustainable development, ensuring energy
security, and encouraging
economic and rational use of fuels and energy.
The President of ERO regulates the activities of energy
enterprises in accordance with the national
energy policy, in order to balance the interests of
all of the energy market actors, i.e. end users
and energy enterprises.y
The President
of ERO

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Organisational structure
President
Vice-President
Department
of Gaseous
and Liquid Fuels
Markets
Department
of Electricity
and Heat Markets
Director General
Department
of
Support Systems
Department
of Markets Development
and Consumer Issues
Department
of Strategy
and Public
Communication
Department
of Legal Issues
and Dispute Settlement
Position for the
Coordination
of the Development
of Smart Grids
Office
of the Director
General
International
Cooperation
Unit
Position for the Protection
of Classified Information Internal Audit
8 Branch Offices in: Szczecin, Gdansk, Poznan, Lublin, Lodz, Wroclaw, Katowice, Cracow

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Branch offices (BO):
• North-West BO seated in Szczecin
• North BO seated in Gdańsk
• Western BO seated in Poznań
• Eastern BO seated in Lublin
• Middle-Western BO seated in Łódz
• South-West BO seated in Wrocław
• South BO seated in Katowice
• South-East BO seated in Kraków
BO Szczecin
BO Gdańsk
BO Katowice
The competences of BOs are peformed on local level.
BOs duties include: licencing, tariffs approval, control,
dispute settlement, imposing fines.
BO Lublin
BO Poznań
BO Łódź
BO Wrocław
BO Kraków
Organisational structure

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Duties of the President of ERO

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Controlling the licensed enterprises’
adherence to the conditions of conducting business.
Energy Law Act enables the President to control the activities of
energy enterprises during the process of license granting or
changing
as well as through taking appropriate action after notification
from other government body or user (e.g. in a form of complaint)
of any violation of law or a suspicion of noncompliance with the
law
or conditions of the issued license.
The result of revealing the incorrectness is an intervention
with the use of available legal means, including financial penalties.

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Promotion of competition
is a priority for the President of ERO manifesting itself in the current
evaluation of the influence of adopted decisions
on the development of competition on the energy market
and optimal decision-making from this point of view.

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Among main activities of the regulator leading towards eliminating
the barriers for competition on the energy market are:
• approving the instruction for operation and maintenance of the grid,
• approving the programs for the compliance of the distribution
system operators,
• monitoring the conditions for connecting the enterprises to the grid,
• monitoring the mechanisms for balancing the system,
• monitoring the conditions of gas storage, liquefying natural gas,
• control over the realization of the obligation of public electricity,
• sale (exchange obligation).

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The number of suppliers’ switching cases measures the development
of the competitive energy market.
The ERO President systematically monitors the degree of the use
of the possibility to choose the energy provider
by the authorized consumers.
The results of the monitoring show that in Poland mostly
the industrial and institutional consumers benefit from TPA rule.

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Approving the tariffs for transmission
and distribution of energy.
In electricity trading tariffs’ approval applies only to households.
One of the key issues is developing a methodology of benchmarking
analysis
and financial projection for tariffication needs of the largest distribution
system
operators as well as establishing for those enterprises the amount
of justified return on the capital.

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Tariffication of the infrastructural enterprises is an indirect method of
monitoring
the security of supply.
During the tariffication process decisions on the extent of financing
the assets indispensable for the fuel supply are being made.
Approved tariffs assure good financial condition of enterprises but also
the possibility to finance planned investments,
modernizations and renovations.

One of the basic tools used by the regulator to maintain the security of energy
and gas supply is the obligation imposed on the energy enterprises to agree
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with the President of ERO their development plans in terms of satisfying
the current and future energy and gas demand.
On the basis of the agreed the plans, the infrastructural enterprises carry out
investment and renovation tasks and ERO monitors the status of the realization
of the ventures necessary for maintaining the appropriate level
of reliability and quality of network services.

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Informational and Educational Policy
Shaping the consumer awareness of the end users became an important goal
in the ERO’s strategy, which aims at creating an open and competitive
energy market.
Many consumers do not know their rights and obligations.
Therefore, informing them
of the possibilities that appeared together with progressing process
of market liberalization is crucial.
ERO created an Information Centre for Energy Consumers „How to change the
supplier”, also the Contact Point provides guidance for end users.
The main responsibility of the Contact Point is
to inform the consumers about their rights and obligations
towards energy enterprises.

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Informational and Educational Policy
ERO leads informational and educational campaigns using new
technologies
and tools such as: internet, TV, radio, billboards and press.
A guidebook website - www.maszwybor.ure.gov.pl
- prepared by ERO in the social campaign promoting the right
to change the energy supplier is one of the examples..

The Department of Legal Issues and Dispute Settlement is a department
of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO), responsible for:
• providing legal services to ERO,
• drafting internal legal acts and legal opinions for other departments of ERO,
• representing ERO in the course of legal proceedings before all courts
(including the Supreme Court),
• taking part in the legislative works regarding legal acts
that refer to the competences of the President of ERO,
• cooperating with other government bodies, representing the Republic of
Poland
in legal proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union,
• resolving disputes between the electricty and gas markets’ players - under
Article 8
of the Energy Law Act (however only with regard to connection of the
renewable energy sources to the electricity or gas network).
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Legal Issues and Dispute Settlement

The Energy Law Act ensures connection to the grid (public law obligation)
Energy enterprise whose activity consists in the transmission or distribution
of gaseous fuels or electricity has an obligation to conclude grid connection
agreement with entities requesting connection to the grid, on terms of equal
treatment, if it is technically and economically feasible to connect to the grid
and supply energy or fuels, and the applicant meets the requirements for
being connected to the grid and taking supply.
The role of The President of ERO
According to Article 8(1) of the Energy Law Act, any disputes over refusal to
conclude a grid connection agreement shall be resolved by the President of
ERO, upon a request of a party.
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Division of dispute resolution - duties

The President of ERO shall determine whether:
• the energy enterprise is obliged to conclude a grid connection agreement
with entity requesting connection to grid,
• the conditions referred to in Article 7(1) of the Energy Law Act are met,
namely if it is technically and economically feasible to connect to grid
and supply energy or fuels,
• entity requesting connection to grid owns legal title to the real estate,
to which gaseous fuels or electricity will be supplied,
• entity requesting connection to grid meets the conditions for being
connected
to the grid and taking supply.
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Division of dispute resolution - duties

Thank you for your
attention
Warsaw 2014

ERO presentation

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