Unlocking
energy market flexibility
Brussels,
29 January 2015
Demand-side
flexibility means empowering consumers and reduced costs
Regulators’
2015 priorities? Competition, DSOs and Customers
CEER’s1
2015 annual conference today addressed one of the big issues for 2015: energy
market flexibility and demand response.
This packed
CEER event brought together policy makers, regulators and companies to address
the challenges and innovative approaches to flexibility at (1) wholesale (2)
network and (3) consumer levels.
Opening the
CEER 2015 conference, EU Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy, Miguel
Arias Cañete welcomed CEER’s initiative:
“The
Commission shares CEER’s aim of unlocking the untapped potential of energy
market flexibility and demand response to the benefit of the whole European
economy. Activating demand-side participation is important. This will require,
amongst other things, the right incentive framework and proper access to information
for consumers. We will make all necessary efforts to make it work properly.”
Conference
highlights include:
High level
panel discussion (which included MEP Buzek and Mr Borchardt, DG ENER) on
maximising the potential of flexibility services
International
Energy Agency (IEA) presentation on pricing flexibility
Presentations
by OPower (a leading seller of energy efficiency software) and Energy Pool (an
aggregator) on how they have successfully unlocked consumers’ contribution to
flexibility.
Demand-side
flexibility means empowering consumers and reduced costs
CEER is at
the forefront of developing competitive retail markets in which consumers can
engage and exert their power of choice. CEER’s efforts to help consumers be
able to change their electricity usage from their normal consumption pattern in
response to market signals (so called “demand-side flexibility”) began with
CEER’s 2014 advice on demand-side flexibility2.
Lord Mogg,
CEER President, explained why a major focus of CEER’s work is developing
competitive retail markets in which consumers can engage.
“Demand-side
flexibility, if enabled, has the potential to bring significant benefits to
consumers, both in terms of controlling their energy use and bills, and in
terms of the avoided cost of generation and network investments which is
inevitably passed through to consumers.”
Unlocking
the value of demand-side flexibility also requires examining the role of
Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in an evolving market. Regulators have
initiated a strategic debate on this issue in our ongoing public consultation
on the future role of the DSO (deadline 27 February).
Regulators’
2015 Priorities? Competition, DSOs and Customers
The CEER
2015 Work Programme
places flexibility, well-functioning retail markets,
delivering actual competition in practice, Distribution System Operators (DSOs)
and empowering consumers as core elements of CEER’s work this year.