This document summarizes the key points from a presentation on empowering energy consumers in the European Union. It outlines a three-point plan to 1) empower consumers through information, smart meters, and real prices, 2) increase competition and flexibility through access to dynamic prices and service providers, and 3) ensure consumer protection and sound data management. Specific policies are discussed to achieve these goals, such as removing barriers for aggregators, guaranteeing rights to individual and collective participation, and establishing clear principles on consumer data access. Challenges around energy affordability and potential roles for local energy communities are also mentioned.

1. New deal for smart
participative energy
European Utility Week Barcelona
24 November 2016
Eero Ailio, dep. Head of Unit retail markets,
Directorate-General for Energy

2. 2
Gearing up ambition
State of Play
Energy and Climate goals

3. Energy
Progressing
State of Play
Energy transition

4. Energy
Updating needed
State of Play
Wholesale markets, infra, rules

5. Energy
5
Vast new resource to engage, serve and reward
Future opportunities
Active consumers

6. Energy
But can't get no…
Copyright: Rolling Stones
Future opportunities
Consumer challenges

7. Energy
7
…satisfaction
GAS
CONSUMERMARKETSSCOREBOARD,DG JUST2016
ELECTRICITY

8. Energy
Activation
AVERAGE CONSUMER ENGAGES WITH THEIR UTILITY 9 MINUTES PER YEAR
Designed by Freepik / www.freepik.com/861636.htm
Future opportunities
Consumer challenges

9. Energy
9
Energy Pool
Future opportunities
Consumer front-runners

10. Energy
 EMPOWER ENERGY CONSUMERS - information
and tools for active participation.
 MARKET COMPETITION AND FLEXIBILITY – allow
new services and real price signals for consumers
to respond to and benefit from
 CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SOUND
MANAGEMENT OF CONSUMER DATA – set
common principles, monitor and assist Member
States.
10
Need to deliver fit-for-purpose retail markets
Strategy and objectives
Three point plan

11. Energy
• Smart meters enable correct bills, dynamic
energy services, demand response
• Reliable price comparison tools facilitate
savings
Empowering by information,
smart meters, real prices
www.sahkonhinta.fi
The Sun
WAY
FORWARD

12. Energy
• Few people switch suppliers in many
Member States
• Self-generating and consuming electricity
is effectively banned in some Member States
• Few consumers have access to independent
aggregators, the gateway to trading self-
generated electricity and full benefit from
explicit demand response.
• Consumers to be entitled to individual,
collective, simple and sophisticated
participation alternatives.
WAY
FORWARD
160 GW
Theoretical
demand
response
potential in 2030
100 GW
Theoretical
demand
response
potential today
20GW
Demand
response
capacity used
today
Empowering by switching, demand
response, self consumption

13. Energy
Competition and flexibility through access to dynamic
prices and service providers
Both electricity and gas price regulation for households
Gas price regulation only for households
No electricity or gas price regulation for households
• Competition to unlock efficient and flexible
consumer behaviour and keep cost of
energy transition at check
• Consumers to have an option to react to
price signals and be rewarded for it
• Obstacles hampering service providers such
as aggregators to be removed
• 17 Member States regulate electricity or gas
prices for households -> dis-incentivises
consumers
• Dynamic price contracts allow exploiting
wholesale price variations (price-based demand
response) but out of reach to most
• Market entry barriers for new service providers
like independent aggregators.
WAY
FORWARD

14. Energy
WAY
FORWARD
• Affordability of energy services becoming
a concern in many Member States.
• Digitisation of the retail electricity market
requires sound management of data to
ensure level playing field for all market
actors and benefits from sharing data to
consumers.
• Inclusive transition by promoting
monitoring, targeting and exchanging
good practices on energy poverty.
• Energy efficiency key to address causes
• Clear principles on consumer data
access benefit all market actors.
Smart meters generate
roughly 3000 times as
much information as the
analogue meters
SHARE OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME SPENT ON DOMESTIC ENERGY
Consumer protection and data
management

15. 15
Regulatory initiatives
Energy Union winter package
Clean energy transition growth sector of the future
• Electricity Directive to boost investments, competition and consumers’ role
• Energy Efficiency legislation to unlock energy savings and growth. (3% ->70b€-
> 400,000 j.)
• Renewable Energy Directive to reach at least 27%. Sector employs 1.2 million
and accounts for 138b€/year.
• Governance proposal to provide regulatory frame, accountability to stimulate
transition.

16. Recognised partners in energy transition
16
Local energy communities,
crowdsourcing platform

17. 7000+ cities leading in climate mitigation and
adaptation, implementing energy transition
Local action: Covenant of Mayors
for Climate and Energy
Founded by European Commission in 2009, New Covenant in 2015, Global Covenant in 2016

18. 18
Financing transition:
European funding sources

19. 19
Financing transition: European
Fund for Strategic Investment
177 b€ annual investments (2021 to 2030) to decarbonise
traditional finance not enough -> ¼ of EFSI to energy

20. Thank you
Eero.Ailio@ec.europa.eu, @eeroailio

21. Installed capacity in residential PV in selected Member States, in MW
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2015
Self consumption in EU

22. Energy
State of play: Renewables
and efficiency

23. 14
Power mix
Significant development
of RES (solar and wind
onshore)
Decline of generation
from solid fuels
Gas-fired generation
decreases until 2020, but
increases thereafter
playing a balancing role
Nuclear decreases slightly
in the medium term

24. 10
Investments in power
generation
New plant investment is
dominated by RES
New thermal plant
investment is mainly CCGT
and CHP plants
Retrofitting of old plants
concern solid fuels plants in
the short/medium term,
nuclear throughout the
projection and RES replaced
on the same site