Liberalisation and Energy Choice for Final Customers: Test Yourself!

The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten has published today a test entitled "Hvorfor er det billigere å vaske tøyet om natten?" ("Why is that cheaper to wash your clothes at night?"), which offers readers the opportunity to test their knowledge about the possibility, procedure and conditions to change of energy provider, the tariff structure of the electricity bill or some support scheme to energy savings in favour of the household sector. This test, which certainly focuses on the Norwegian context (but as part of the EEA Agreement, Norway is implementing the EC energy legislation), underlines a very central issue in the opening of the electricity retail market to competition: final customers do not always have a clear understanding of the rights the full liberalisation of the energy market gave them. Public authorities, in particular under the initiative of regulators, are developing information tools, such as in France the website http://www.energie-info.fr/. But far too few people talk about "energy customers' rights".