Challenges and Opportunities for Consumers in the open Electricity Market

1. Riga, March 2014
Tiiu Müürsepp
Tartu Consumer Advice and Information Centre,
Estonia

2.  Were we ready for opening?
 How to evaluate?
 Should it be the number of contracts’ contractors
for that?
 If so then Estonia was phenomenal in January
20% customers didn’t have the electricity contract

3.  The competition and alternatives are grown
 There was 7 now 8 big electricity sellers for the
customers in the market (all together 52 electricity
sellers in Estonia)

4.  Contract options are:
 Fixed
 Combined 50% 50%
 Exchange
 Green
 We have now more than 110 packages

5.  the customer can agree on a price for six months,
one year, two years and three years by fixed and
combined packages
 the contract are open ended by exchanged term

6.  We have the universal service for that customers
who didn’t sign the contract
 That people are the customers who use electricity
in very small amounts and vulnerable customers
 that was the most expensive choice in 2013
 Eesti Energia reduced universal service to the
most favourable level in January 2014

7.  electricity sellers' price offers are increasingly
associated with the electricity consumption of the
customer's household
 Therefore is important that the customer should
task a personal price offer from sellers
 general price lists, newspaper articles, price
comparison portals are not the places to look for a
personal price offer.

8.  Electricity contracts can be changed and re-signed
at any time, and many of our customers
have used this option. The customers only have to
consider that if they want their new electricity
package or a different contract period to take
effect next month, then they should make the
necessary changes 21 days before the beginning
of the next month

9.  If customer wants to terminate a term electricity
contract early, then she/he has to terminate the
current contract in the contract detail view.
 Customer has to notify 30 days in advance

10.  The electricity price influenced by market opening
compiles approximately only one third from
monthly electricity bill,
 remain components: network operator fee,
renewable energy fee and tax are
not influenced by market opening
 Electricity price arised 23,6% on average last year
in Estonia

11.  If electricity seller and network operator company
are different then the customer have to pay 2 bills
 one for electricity and
 second for network operator service and other
fees.

12.  To help the customers to compare,choose and
sign the fairest electricity contract we have 3
private webpages www.energiaturg.ee ,
www.minuelekter.ee , www.elektrihind.ee
 But we don’t have any governmental one

13.  2013 year has shown that the price differences
between different packages and periods have
minimal effect on customer bill.
 The difference on customer electricity bill on the
basis of average consumption is less than a
euro.
 The price winning is little and don’t motivate to
change the contract

14.  Only 2% of home customers changed the
contract in 2013
 The opportunity of electricity sellers to influence
consumers with competition is small

15.  The electricity market was regional, electricity market wasn’t
finally open –
 the competition on the electricity market was low
and the interest of customers was low for
comparision of electricity packages
 But our electricity market is in developing
 It will be developed by opening Estlink2 (opened
07.02.2014), by Nordbalt: Lithuania-Sweden in 2016 and
Lithuania-Poland 2015-2016
 Also new capacities will be established in the next future

16.  But the number of customers who changed the
electricity seller was continously growing in 2013
 that number was lower than European average 10% it
was 2% in Estonia on 2013
 The number of customers on universal electricity
service was continously deminishing, in
September 2013 were 24% of customers and in
Dezember 2013 only 12% of customers on the
universal service

17.  Tiiu Müürsepp
 Tartu Consumer Advice and Information Centre
 Estonia
 tiiu.muursepp@gmail.com