Mandatory combined billing in the future Nordic end-user market

All electricity customers should in the future receive all their electricity costs combined on one invoice. This recommendation was decided by the Nordic Energy Regulators (NordREG) during a meeting on the 15thof December.

- One bill instead of two will make life easier for many electricity customers. It also increases the potential for electricity suppliers to compete on equal terms, says the chairman of NordREG Board, Finn Dehlbæk.

The recommendation from NordREG will mean that the invoice from the supplier in the future must include both the cost of electricity (the energy consumed) and the cost of the electricity grid. It also means that for electricity customers in most cases it will be enough to have contact only with the supplier.

With this recommendation, the playing field between electricity suppliers will be more equal. Electricity suppliers will only compete on its own merits and should no longer have the opportunity to take advantage of a close link to a monopoly in order to market themselves in the competitive market.

Today, the electricity customers who do not switch suppliers in most cases receive a combined bill that includes both the cost of electricity and the network tariff. While, customers who are active and switch supplier in most cases receive two bills. In general most customers have a negative perception of receiving two bills and therefore choose not to switch suppliers.

NordREG recognises that the successful implementation of a mandatory combined billing regime requires development of efficient methods for information exchange, payment systems, tax collection and risk management schemes. These and many other issues will be analysed further by NordREG.

The Nordic Energy Regulators within NordREG are working together on behalf of the Nordic energy ministers to create a common Nordic end-user market for electricity. The decision on mandatory combined billing is another important step towards the goal of having a common market in place by 2015.

For further reading download: NordREG billing recommendations http://goo.gl/629Ru

For more information please contact:
Daniel Norstedt, Chair of the NordREG Retail Market Working Group, +46 16 16 27 31

NordREG is an organisation for the Nordic energy regulators. Our mission is to actively promote legal and institutional framework and conditions necessary for developing the Nordic and European  electricity markets.