Scope of Agency’s work
In accordance with the Energy Law and international agreements the Agency carries out the following tasks:
Price regulation
Under the group of tasks associated with price regulation the Agency:
- specifies use of system charging methodologies for electricity transmission and distribution, natural gas transmission, distribution and storage, and oil and oil derivatives transportation;
- specifies pricing methodologies for electricity, natural gas, and heat energy (produced in combined electricity and heat power plants) for tariff customers;
- adopts tariff systems for charging use of system for electricity transmission and distribution, natural gas transmission, distribution and storage, oil and oil derivative transportation, and facilities for natural gas storage;
- adopts tariff systems for electricity and natural gas pricing for tariff customers;
- specifies the criteria and methods for electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution system connection charging;
- provides opinion on use of system charges for electricity transmission and distribution, for natural gas transmission, distribution and storage, oil and oil derivative transportation, and for natural gas storage facilities;
- provides opinion on electricity and natural gas prices for tariff customers;
- monitors implementation of methodologies and tariff systems; and
- monitors behaviour of energy entities in regard to account separation.
Licensing of Energy Entities for Conducting Energy Activities
Licensing of energy entities for conducting energy activities (except activities of distribution and production of heat energy in heating plants) is a group of tasks the Agency carries out as state administrative tasks entrusted to it by the Law (entrusted tasks), which include:
- issuing of licenses for conducting energy activities;
- revoking of licenses;
- monitoring of compliance with license conditions;
- keeping of register of inssued and revoked licenses.
Deciding appeals
Within this group of tasks it carries out as state administration tasks entrusted to it, the Agency:
- decides appeals against acts of energy entities (system operators) on refusing access to the electricity and natural gas transmission or distribution system, access to natural gas storage, as well as on refusing access to oil and oil derivatives transportation systems;
- decide s appeals against decisions of energy entities on connection of facilities of producers and customers to the transmission or distribution system for electricity and natural gas, i.e. appeals against failure to adopt a decision on a submitted application for connection.
Energy Market Supervision
Task group associated with electricity and natural gas market supervision include:
- approval of grid codes;
- approval of electricity market code;
- approval of natural gas storage system code;
- specification of criteria for acquiring the status of eligible customer (with right to buy electricity/natural gas on the free market);
- specification of the eligible customer status at customer’s request;
- keeping of eligible customer register;
- monitoring of grid and market codes implementation.
International Activities and Implementation of International Agreements
An important part of Agency’s activities is associated with the implementation of international agreements ratified by our country. Above all, this relates to the participation of the Agency in the work of Energy Community institutions. By signing the international legally binding “Energy Community Treaty” on October 25, 2005 in Athens, the South-East European and EU countries have started a process of creating the Energy Community with the goal to expand the EU internal energy market onto the South-East Europe region. The Agency participates in the work of the Energy Community Regulatory Board (advisory body of the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community with possible executive functions), and in the work of the Electricity, Natural Gas and Social Forums.
The Agency also contributes to the implementation of other international obligations (associated with energy and regional integrations) our country took over as part of the European Partnership and Stabilisation and Accession process.
The Agency is a fully empowered member of the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA), a specialized association of regulators with the aim to improve collaboration, experience exchange, and capacity building of member regulators.