Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

Today I would like to share with you an article sent by the team of Compare Electricity Rates . The latter aims to facilitate comparison between electricity providers in the United States , as well as  help customers understand their electricity bill . It provide two comparative toools: "Compare Electricity Bills by State" and "Compare Electricity Usage by State".   Some of these tasks are undertaken in Europe by competition authorities or energy regulators. Private driven websites are also making public comparison tools. Making electric bills more transparent and comparing prices are fundamental for the  protection of electricity customers rights . At EU level, I refer to the works of the Citizens' Energy Forum (so-called London Forum). In November 2010, the EU Commission adopted a Staff Working Paper on "An Energy Policy for Consumers" ( SEC(2010) 1407 final ). Read the latest article published by  Compare Electricity Rates here: ...

Here is a link to an article I wrote on the regulatory framework adopted in Norway in 2011 for the roll-out of  smart metering and Advanced / Intellingent Metering Systems (AMS/IMS) , as well as associated legal issues: "Norway adopts smart metering regulation" by C. Banet, published 27.10.2011. Picture: (c) Catherine Banet

Nedenfor følger kopi av pressemelding publisert av Olje- og Energidepartementet den 28.10.2011. " Regjeringen har i dag fremmet Prop 4 S (2011-2012) og Prop 5 S (2011-2012) om innhenting av Stortingets samtykke til henholdsvis innlemmelse av fornybardirektivet (2009/28/EF) i EØS-avtalen og til inngåelse av avtale mellom Kongeriket Norges regjering og Kongerikets Sveriges regjering om et felles marked for elsertifikater av 29. juni 2011. - Når vi nå oversender disse to samtykkeproposisjonene til Stortinget, er vi enda et skritt nærmere oppstart av elsertifikatmarkedet 1.januar 2012, sier olje- og energiminister Ola Borten Moe. EUs fornybardirektiv har som mål å etablere et felles rammeverk for å fremme bruk av energi fra fornybare energikilder i EU-landene. Hvert medlemsland skal bidra ved å oppfylle separate mål for andel fornybar energi av totalt energibruk innen 2020 slik at det bidrar til det over¬ordnede EU-målet om en 20 prosent fornybarandel i 2020. Det er ...

The energy ministers of Norway and the UK signed today, 25 October 2011 , a " Joint Ministerial Statement on Climate Change and Energy Security " (doc. available HERE ). The document, as indicated by its title, is not legally binding , but is a political signal by the means of a joint agreemet to cooperate further on a series of energy issues of common interest for the two countries . It also reflects the desire to develop a common vision for energy activities in the North Sea ("One North Sea"). Interestingly, the issues of the exploitation of fossil and renewable energy sources are put together in the same document. The two agenda of securing a safe but continued petroleum production and promoting low carbon consumption and generation are to be conducted in parallel, and to a certain extent in coordination. On the last point, the next meeting of the UK-Norway High Level Officials' Dialogue will take place in London first half of 2012. Bilateral stat...

The  Commission notice on best practices for the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU was published in the Official Journal on 20 October 2011 (available HERE ). As stated in the first part of the Notice, the purpose is to provide practical guidance on the conduct of proceedings before the Commission. The Notice consequently contributes to more transparenct in the procedure for enforcement of the Treaty's antitrust provisions, and is to read together with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 , and Commission Regulation No. 773/2004 relating to the conduct of proceedings by the Commission pursuant to the former Articles 81 and 82 EC Treaty (Implementing Regulation). The Notice also reflects the case law of the Court. The Notice does not cover proceedings before national competition authorities when they apply the provisions. It does not deal in detail with specific procedures (e.g., imposing sanctions or fines when misleading inform...

The Energy Law Research Forum (ELRF) , a network of lawyers specialised in energy law, will hold, in collaboration with Intersentia , its fourth annual conference on 5 December 2011 in Leuven, Belgium . Among the topics covered are: the Third Energy Package, Production (nuclear, combined cycle gas turbine, offshore wind), Transmission (investments, liability of TSO, integration of renewables), Distribution, Supply, Consumption, Competition law, Regulators role. The Conference will end by a debate and a roundtable to which I will participate. The discussion will there be: " The 20-20-20 targets by 2020 - are we still on track? " See you there! The detailed programme of the conference and information on registration are available HERE .

Nedenfor følger en fin og kort oppsummering av situajonen mellom Norge og Sverige når det gjelder forkjeller i forkant av felles elsertifikatermarkedet, som jeg tar fra NORWEA presentasjon under NVE Energidagene fra 13. oktober 2011 (tilgjengelig HER ): SWE vind < NOR vind SWE nett > NOR nett SWE arbeidskraft (kostnader) < NOR arbeidskraft SWE el. og el.sert = NOR el. og el.sert SWE konsesjon ~ NOR konsesjon SWE avskriving > NOR avskriving I tillegg  vil jeg selv understrekke to viktige komponenter som skal veie i balansen i fremtiden og som er: konsesjonsbehandlingen - Man kan nå forvente en bredt diskusjon av konseskjonsregimet i Norge, som en konsekvens av de utfordringene opplevd de siste årene, både når det gjelder nett (jf. debatten rundt Sima - Samnanger kraftlinjen) og produksjon (jf. debatten rundt mulig konkurranse mellom Sverige og Norge om hvem skal behandle raskest konsesjonssøknade...

The French National Assembly discussed and rejected on 11 October 2011  a law proposal submitted in July 2011 which aimed to forbid the exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons (i.e., including shale gas and shale oil), to repeal the exclusive permits for research of mines of non-conventional hydrocarbons, and to ensure more transparency in the Mining Code . This means that, although France passed a law on 13 July 2011 which prohibits the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons by hydraulic fracturing on the French territory (loi n° 2011-835), the research and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons by other methods remain legal . The proposed legislation was rejected by a large majority, 269 against, 191 in favour, mostly originating from the party of the government. References : Text of the proposal, availalble HERE : Proposition de Loi No. 3690 visant à interdire l'exploration et l'exploitation des hydrocarbures non co...

The Council has adopted today, 10 October 2011, the proposal for a regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency, so-called REMIT Regulation. See previous posts published on this blog on the proposal HERE . As summarised in the press release published by the Council (available HERE ), the main purpose of the regulation is to : " set up a framework for monitoring wholesale energy markets in order to effectively detect and deter market abuse and manipulation, thereby ensuring the integrity and transparency of those markets. The central element of this framework is the establishment of a market monitoring function at European level, a task which will be carried out by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) ." The regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the EU in the coming weeks, and will enter into force on the twentieth day of its publication .

The French government announced on Monday 3 October that it  repealed three permits for shale gas exploration based on hydraulic fracturing . The permits are annulled for the very reason that they involve the used of the hydraulic fracturing technology, which has been prohibited after the adoption of the Law dated 13 July 2011 (text available HERE ). The three permits are owned by two companies, the American Schuepbach (Ardèche and Larzac) and the French Total (Montélimar). Schuepbach clearly mentionned its plans to use hydraulic fracturing in its application for permits, which was clearly contrary to the new law and so illegal, while the grounds for the cancellation of Total's permits are less obvious. The basic argument in the refusal of Total's permit was, according to the Minister in charge, Mrs. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, that the line of argumentation developed by Total was not credible since: (i) Total wanted now to explore conventional hydrocarbons in a...

GASSCO melder at selskapet overtar fra i dag, 1. oktober 2011, driften av mottaksterminalen for norsk gass i Easington, Storbritannia . I praksis er det et driftselskap som ble etablert av GASSCO i Storbritannia for å håndtere oppgavene i terminalen (30 ansatte i GASSCO UK Branch AS). Mottaksterminalen, som egentlig heter  Langeled Receiving Facilities (LRF) , er en av de tre største i Storbritannia. Den tar imot gass fra blant annet den berømte rørledningen Langeled (1200 km langt). GASSCO kaller den selv " det viktigste landingspunktet for norsk gass i Europas største gassmarked ," hvor 27 % av det nasjonale gassforbruket er dekket av norsk gass . GASSCOs administrerende direktør Brian Bjordal supplerer med at: ” Som siste målepunkt for norsk gass før markedet, har mottaksterminalene en spesiell funksjon. En direkte utøvelse av vårt operatøransvar er viktig for uavhengigheten og nøytraliteten som er selve fundamentet for Gasscos virksomhet. Daglig teknisk dri...