Office of Energy Regulation
To
Date Your ref. Our ref. Enclosure(s)
103378/ 8.B1462
Subject
Consultation on tariff reorganization 2011
P.O. Box 16326 Wijnhaven 24 Muzenstraat 81 T: +31 [70] 330 33 30 E-mail: info@nmanet.nl
2500 BH The Hague 2511 GA The Hague 2511 WB The Hague F: +31 [70] 330 33 70 Web: www.energiekamer.nl
The Netherlands The Netherlands The Netherlands
Dear …,
Every year, the Board of the Netherlands Competition Authority (hereafter: the Board) sets the tariffs that GTS, the national operator of the Dutch gas transport network, charges for the execution of its statutory tasks, as laid down in Sections 10 and 10a of the Dutch Gas Act. In connection thereto, GTS submits a tariff proposal to the Board every year before September 1. If the tariff proposal, which consists of a proposal for the tariffs, accompanied by the reasons behind the proposal, falls within the legal framework, the Board usually takes a decision similar to the proposal. In general, a tariff proposal is made available for perusal for two weeks.
GTS has announced that, starting in 2011, it plans to implement a so-called tariff restructuring of the transport and transport-related tariffs. In order to avoid any confusion with regard to the so-called tariff structures, as referred to in Section 12a of the Dutch Gas Act, the Board prefers using the term ‘tariff reorganization’. It is expected that such reorganization may have financial
consequences for parties, both positive and negatives ones. The complex nature of the planned reorganization and the relatively short period of time the Board usually has for reaching a decision on these proposals may jeopardize a careful and timely decision-making process. The Board therefore wants to set up the tariff-decision realization process in 2011 differently than usual.
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take a tariff decision for the year 2011, based on GTS’ tariff proposal, before January 2011. The Board is therefore planning to set up a consultation round to be held in the spring of 2010, based on a draft tariff proposal to be drawn up by GTS. The Office of Energy Regulation and GTS have agreed on this plan. The steps and (provisional) schedule of this plan are roughly as follows:
1. GTS submits a draft tariff proposal to the Office of Energy Regulation by the end of April 2010. Depending on the availability of data, this draft tariff proposal resembles as much as possible the final tariff proposal to be submitted later in 2010. The draft tariff proposal will be accompanied by a detailed explanation of the revised weighting of the main factors within the statutory criteria, and of the possible effects on individual
stakeholders. In addition, a margin as accurate as possible will be given for elements with a high degree of uncertainty in connection with the proposed tariffs.
2. After having added relevant questions, the Office of Energy Regulation makes the draft tariff proposal available for consultations on approximately May 1, 2010. Parties have six weeks to submit their opinions, in writing. In addition, a hearing will be set up by the Office of Energy Regulation.
3. The Office of Energy Regulation publishes the opinions it receives as soon as possible. It makes its findings regarding the draft tariff proposal public by the end of June. The purpose of these findings is to better enable the Office of Energy Regulation to take a careful formal decision in the normal procedure, and, if necessary, to give GTS the opportunity to take these findings into account when drawing up the final proposal. The Board wants to emphasize that the abovementioned draft proposal is not considered a proposal within the meaning of Section 82 of the Dutch Gas Act. In addition, the
abovementioned procedure is neither considered a public preparatory procedure within the meaning of part 3:4 of the Dutch General Administrative Law Act. Following the abovementioned procedure, the Board expects to receive enough information from parties in order to be able to assess the reorganization’s consequences within such a time that adjustments to the process, wherever necessary, can still be made without causing any delays to the realization process of the tariff decision. The Board wants to emphasize that if parties give an assessment of the tariff reorganization’s possible consequences as complete as possible and at an early stage, this will enable the Board to formulate its provisional findings. These findings can serve as a starting point for the formal tariff proposal’s assessment, whereby in principle, ceteris paribus, only the relevant differences between the draft version and final version will be assessed. In principle, the parties’ reactions in response to the draft proposal, if the facts, circumstances and regulations have remain unchanged, will therefore be leading in the assessment of the formal tariff proposal. The abovementioned process is explicitly intended as a consultation procedure for the purpose of a careful decision-making process regarding the formal tariff proposal. As usual, GTS’ formal tariff proposal will be available for perusal for twee weeks.
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substantiate any confidentiality claims, using the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act (Wob). Please note that a confidentiality request is not automatically granted. The Board will consider your request, taking into consideration the reasons that are put forward. Should you have any questions, please contact Edward Droste. Mr. Droste can be reached by calling +31-70-330-5079, or by sending an email to e.j.r.droste@nmanet.nl.
