In response to the energy crisis, every Member State introduced emergency measures to support their citizens and economy, and to mitigate security of energy supply risks.

Today, ACER publishes an inventory of 400+ measures adopted by Member States to cope with the energy crisis. ACER publishes its inventory in the form of an interactive dashboard, providing a high-level analysis of the measures. In a second step, ACER will proceed with an assessment of the measures, focusing on lessons learned and publishing a fuller report in July 2023.

How is ACER’s inventory of energy measures relevant?

ACER’s detailed EU-wide picture of the energy emergency measures adopted across Europe is timely:

• As energy and fiscal policy makers consider next steps now to cope with persistent short term energy challenges;
• With Member States starting to re-evaluate their energy emergency support measures in the context of falling energy prices; and
• Given recent calls (by certain EU bodies) for fiscal policy (in the current high inflation environment) to be targeted, tailored and temporary.

Lessons from measures taken over the past year and a half could help Member States direct any future energy emergency support measures, when and where deemed appropriate, to those who need it most.

What is ACER’s inventory of emergency measures about?

• The inventory collects over 400 measures implemented by Member States from July 2021 until February 2023.
• It relies on information collected by the European Commission, directly from Member States, as well as on publicly available information. National regulators validated and complemented the information.
• ACER clusters the measures related to gas and electricity into categories according to criteria, such as the primary purpose of the measure or the specific group of (targeted) consumers.

What are ACER’s high-level findings to date?

• Every Member State has adopted energy emergency support measures.
• 1/3 of the measures aim at what we have labelled broader security of supply objectives, while 2/3 aim to tackle affordability for end-consumers.
• Almost 1/2 of the measures take the form of direct support to final consumers.
• 1/2 of the measures targeting broader security of supply objectives aim at increasing energy efficiency and renewable generation uptake, thereby also contributing to the Green Deal and Fit-for-55 policy goals.
• Some measures aiming at replacing the use of gas for heating or for producing electricity could, however, hamper the decarbonisation goals; hence, their use should be limited to areas where alternatives to safeguarding security of supply are not readily available.
• 40% of the measures aiming at tackling energy affordability target households (sometimes inter alia with other consumer groups) but less than 1/4 of them target vulnerable consumers.
• 60% of the measures aiming at providing direct support to consumers come in the form of income support (e.g. one-off cash payments), while the rest come in the form of discounts in the energy bills (price support).

What’s next?

ACER plans to publish a fuller analysis of emergency measures in July 2023 to further assist policy makers.

As this ACER inventory might not be complete, ACER welcomes feedback on its inventory (by 16 April 2023), to be sent to 2023_emergency_measures(at)acer.europa.eu.

Access the Emergency Measures inventory.

Some regions of Europe’s electricity single day-ahead coupling (SDAC) rely on so-called “second auctions” in case of extremely high or low prices. Those auctions, only triggered by extreme prices, allow market participants to adapt their bids prior to a second run of the SDAC auction.

Recently, Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs) have introduced second auctions in the bidding zones of the Baltic region.

Hence, ACER would like to better understand how EU market participants consider the current functioning and potential evolutions of second auctions. ACER therefore invites EU market participants to fill in a survey by Thursday, 30 March 2023.

Enter the survey.

Since 13th January, as required by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2576, ACER publishes a daily Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) price assessment. On 8 March, ACER will start applying an updated version (Beta 2.0) of the methodology for its LNG price assessments.

Why update the methodology and why now?

• The aim (as per the Regulation) is for ACER to produce an objective price assessment that reflects the price of LNG spot transactions.
• On some days, there were insufficient eligible LNG spot transactions to calculate the price assessment as per the established methodology (which required a minimum of 5 transactions over 5 rolling days).
• After observing the initial methodology (Beta 1.0) for a few weeks, ACER has decided to update it.
• The Regulation also requires ACER to publish a LNG benchmark by 31 March 2023. ACER intends to start applying the new LNG price methodology as of 8 March in order to verify it until the benchmark’s go-live on 31 March 2023.

What are the main changes to the LNG price assessment methodology and why is it relevant?

• A single EU LNG price will be calculated on top of the current practice of prices for 2 zones (North-West Europe and South Europe).
• ACER’s Beta 1.0 methodology used a 5-day rolling window to aggregate transactions and thus build a price that is representative of the market conditions. Beta 2.0 further shifts the weight of the calculation to the most recent transactions and is at the same time extending the calculation window to 10 days.

This will increase the robustness of the LNG price calculation.

Has ACER consulted stakeholders on its work?

ACER works closely with stakeholders to have a meaningful LNG price assessment that is genuinely representative and not arbitrary. ACER developed and now subsequently refined, with the help of an LNG Expert Group and in consultation with the European Commission, a robust beta methodology underpinning the ACER LNG price assessment.

In addition, ACER intends to further update the Guidance on reporting LNG market data, and improve its TERMINAL platform to improve the user experience. The updated reporting Guidance will mainly clarify important details to assure better data quality. 

Both updated documents will benefit from the advice of its LNG Expert Group, close engagement with market participants (e.g. via roundtables, webinars), input from other stakeholders and ACER price assessors’ experience so far.

Access the updated LNG price assessment methodology (Beta 2.0).

Learn more about the LNG price assessment.

ACER and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and have signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which strengthens collaboration between the two institutions. The MoU notably incorporates new cooperation areas under the Market Correction Mechanism (MCM) Regulation and benchmarks related to the energy sector. It also details the role of the recently established ACER–ESMA Task Force.

ACER and ESMA will continue to cooperate in relation to Regulation of wholesale energy markets, which encompass both energy derivatives and spot markets. The cooperation will primarily be achieved through on-going consultations, exchange of information and cross-participation in joint meetings of working groups and task forces.

Main areas covered by the MoU

• Coordinated and consistent approach to market abuse framework under the Regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency and the Market Abuse Regulation to further enhance market integrity in energy and energy derivative markets;
• Technical cooperation on data and knowledge with respect to the functioning of energy and energy derivative markets; and
• LNG price assessments and benchmarks administered by ACER and other energy-related benchmarks relevant for ACER's or ESMA's mandates.

Background

ACER and ESMA have a long-established cooperative relationship. The first MoU was signed in July 2013.

In October 2022, in the context of the energy crisis, ACER and ESMA enhanced their efforts to strengthen oversight of energy and energy derivative markets. They launched the idea of a joint ACER–ESMA Task Force and highlighted possible areas of cooperation. More here.

ACER and ESMA published preliminary data reports concerning the adoption of the EU Regulation establishing an MCM to protect Union citizens and the economy against excessively high prices in January 2023. See ACER report here and ESMA report here. The provisions governing the MCM started applying on 15 February 2023.

Both agencies released on 1 March their respective Effects Assessments. See ACER report here and ESMA report here.

On 25 January 2023, the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) of all EU Member States, referred to ACER a joint proposal of all Transmission System Operators (TSOs). The proposal contains amendments to the methodology for calculating scheduled exchanges resulting from single day-ahead market coupling pursuant to Article 43 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222. ACER initiates the procedure and opens a public consultation.

The main amendments that TSOs propose are on how scheduled exchanges between the Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs) trading hubs are calculated.

What are the next steps?

ACER has 6 months (until 25 July 2023) to assess the TSOs’ proposal.

To collect the views of the stakeholders, a public consultation on the TSOs’ proposal runs from 1 to 29 March 2023. In particular, ACER is interested in:

• The calculation of the scheduled exchanges between NEMO trading hubs; and
• Any other necessary amendments.

Access the public consultation and read more.