S.L. 545.34 Art. 4Market-based supply prices.

(1) Suppliers shall be free to determine the price at which they supply electricity to customers. The Regulator shall take appropriate actions to ensure effective competition between suppliers:

(2) The Minister responsible for social policy shall ensure the protection of energy poor and vulnerable household customers pursuant to regulations 25 and 26:

Provided that protection of energy poor and vulnerable household customers shall not be achieved by means of public interventions in the price setting for the supply of electricity.

(3) By way of derogation from sub-regulations (1) and (2), the Minister may apply public interventions in the price setting for the supply of electricity to energy poor or vulnerable household customers. Such public interventions shall be subject to the conditions set out in sub-regulations (4) and (5).

(4) Public interventions in the price setting for the supply of electricity shall:

(a) pursue a general economic interest and not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that general economic interest;

(b) be clearly defined, transparent, non-discriminatory and verifiable;

(c) guarantee equal access for Union electricity undertakings to customers:

(d) be limited in time and proportionate as regards their beneficiaries;

(e) not result in additional costs for market participants in a discriminatory way.

(5) When applying public interventions in the price setting for the supply of electricity in accordance with sub-regulation (3) the Minister shall also comply with point (d) of Article 3(3) and with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, regardless of whether there are a significant number of households in energy poverty.

(6) For the purpose of a transition period to establish effective competition for electricity supply contracts between suppliers, and to achieve fully effective market-based retail pricing of electricity in accordance with sub-regulation (1), the Minister may apply public interventions in the price setting for the supply of electricity to household customers and to microenterprises that do not benefit from public interventions pursuant to sub-regulation (3).

(7) Public interventions pursuant to sub-regulation (6) shall comply with the criteria set out in sub-regulation (4) and shall:

(a) be accompanied by a set of measures to achieve effective competition and a methodology for assessing progress with regard to those measures;

(b) be set using a methodology that ensures non-discriminatory treatment of suppliers;

(c) be set at a price that is above cost, at a level where effective price competition can occur;

(d) be designed to minimise any negative impact on the wholesale electricity market;

(e) ensure that all beneficiaries of such public interventions have the possibility to choose competitive market offers and are directly informed at least every quarter of the availability of offers and savings in the competitive market, in particular of dynamic electricity price contracts, and shall ensure that they are provided with assistance to switch to a market-based offer;

(f) ensure that, pursuant to regulations 16 and 18, all beneficiaries of such public interventions are entitled to, and are offered to, have smart meters installed at no extra upfront cost to the customer, are directly informed of the possibility of installing smart meters and are provided with necessary assistance;

(g) not lead to direct cross-subsidisation between customers supplied at free market prices and those supplied at regulated supply prices.

(8) The Minister shall notify the measures taken in accordance with sub-regulations (3) and (6) to the Commission within one (1) month after their adoption and may apply them immediately. The notification shall be accompanied by an explanation of why other instruments were not sufficient to achieve the objective pursued, of how the requirements set out in sub-regulations (4) and (7) are fulfilled and of the effects of the notified measures on competition. The notification shall describe the scope of the beneficiaries, the duration of the measures and the number of household customers affected by the measures and shall explain how the regulated prices have been determined.

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(9) By 1 January 2022 and 1 January 2025, the Minister shall submit reports to the Commission on the implementation of this regulation, the necessity and proportionality of public interventions under this regulation, and an assessment of the progress towards achieving effective competition between suppliers and the transition to market-based prices. The Minister shall report on the compliance with the conditions set out in sub-regulation (7) with regard to the application of regulated prices in accordance with sub-regulation (6), including on compliance by suppliers that are required to apply such interventions, as well as on the impact of regulated prices on the finances of those supplier.

(10) This regulation shall not apply until such time as the derogations under paragraphs 3 and 5 of Article 66 of the Directive apply.