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electricity markets are in the process of liberalization. Sweden,
Finland, the United Kingdom and Germany have opened up their market
completely for competition, others like The Netherlands and Spain
are to follow soon. The EU is currently debating a new directive
which is intended to complete the liberalization process in the
European electricity sector.
The disclosure of electricity
information is aiming to provide electricity consumers with relevant
information on the product they are buying. This will assist
consumers to make informed choices in a liberalized energy market
and therefore is an essential complement of the liberalized
electricity market. The relevant information provided can include,
but is not restricted to, price and monthly cost, fuel mix and
environmental effects of power generation.
There
is much experience with electricity disclosure in the US, as nearly
half of the US states have implemented disclosure rules since 1996.
Electricity disclosure is also on the European political agenda.
Austria
is already operating a disclosure scheme and requirements to
introduce such schemes in all EU Member States are part of the
revised Electricity Market Directive (2004/54/EC), which had to be
implemented
into
national legislation by July 2003.
In
Germany, disclosure is part of the current revision of energy market
legislation. The German electricity industry association (VDEW) has
presented a proposal for the implementation of disclosure, which was
criticised strongly by Öko-Institut and consumer and environmental
groups
(see background information below). In July 2004, the federal
government has passed a draft for the new energy market law, which
takes up the most relevant issues. With regard to some key features,
this draft legislation exceeds the rather weak requirements of the
EU Directive with regard to disclosure. This will certainly help to
create a more transparent electricity market.
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