CEER and ECRB publish flagship report on quality of energy supply in Europe

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) publish today the 7th Benchmarking Report on the Quality of Electricity and Gas Supply, a key document identifying good regulatory practices on the quality of supply in electricity and gas grids that help to safeguard European consumers from energy cuts.

The report, which compiles data from energy regulatory authorities of 39 countries, provides findings and associated recommendations to maintain a good quality of all dimensions of electricity and gas supply for customers across Europe (with some additional data on three Mediterranean countries). Energy stakeholders draw on the data – provided by CEER Members and Observers and the Energy Community Contracting Parties – to forecast long-term trends in Europe and plan investments, while universities and think tanks use it for their research. 

One of the main findings reveals that most countries decreased or at least maintained their system sustainability and the number of interruptions per customer from the beginning to the end of the observed period for electricity. The assessment also shows that interruptions in gas, while much less common than those in electricity, can lead to a higher risk of safety, resulting in greater efforts by regulators to avoid them. 

“European energy regulators are committed to promoting well-functioning and competitive energy markets in Europe in order to ensure that consumers receive fair prices, a wide choice of suppliers and the best quality of supply, including as much protection from cut-offs as possible. This work is therefore of particular importance in a context of exceptionally high prices and challenging times for European energy markets” says CEER President Annegret Groebel.

“Safeguarding stable and undisrupted electricity and gas supply for energy customers is a central focus of regulatory activities. The 7th Benchmarking Report on the Quality of Electricity and Gas Supply provides a well-elaborated picture of the status quo that will allow us to further progress” ECRB President Marko Bislimoski underlines.

Three major aspects of the quality of supply are addressed in the report. For electricity, they are availability and technical characteristics of grids (continuity of supply), technical properties of supplied electricity (voltage quality), and the speed and accuracy with which customer requests are handled (commercial quality). For gas, these are its availability and technical characteristics of the grid (technical operational quality), its chemical composition (natural gas quality) and the speed and accuracy of handling customer requests (commercial quality).

CEER has routinely surveyed and analysed the quality of electricity (since 2001) and gas supply (since 2016) in European countries and has produced six full Benchmarking Reports as well as regular updates. This 7th edition has complete data from both CEER and ECRB participants raising the total number of fully participating countries and enabling easier benchmarking for most of Europe. While the report draws from the latest available information provided by energy regulators, the data for continuity of supply covers the period of 2010 to 2018.