How to engage
consumers in the
energy market?
Monika Štajnarová
EU Sustainable Energy Week
16 June 2016
BEUC?
 Bureau européen des Unions
de Consommateurs
 Established in 1962 by 6
consumer organisations
 41 member organisations
 31 European countries
6/16/2016
2
Energy market r(e)volution
Decentralisation
Digitalisation
Demand
response
Data protection
Storage
Smart meters
Energy Union Vision
Energy Union with citizens at its core, where
citizens take ownership of the energy transition,
benefit from new technologies to reduce their
bills, participate actively in the market, and
where vulnerable consumers are protected.
Energy services are essential
 Energy prices are one of
the main financial
concerns of consumers
 Services that consumers
would certainly pay even
faced with financial
difficulties =>
DECO, 2015
Need to address old & new challenges
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Prices that are competitive & affordable
Easily manageable energy markets
Comparable offers
Understandable bills
Smooth switching
Fair contract terms & conditions
Bundle offers & ‘innovative services’
Unfair marketing practices
New technologies (smart meters, connected devices, smart
homes)
 Friendly demand-side response
 New business models & new market players
Towards a consumer-centric
energy market
 Consumers as partners => Changing role of consumers,
prosumers
 Improve consumer trust => Need for truly competitive
market which is transparent, easy to navigate; reliable and
comparable information is key
 Better understanding of consumer diversity & behavior is
necessary => Nudging consumers to engage; incentivise and
provide personalised advice
Towards a consumer-centric
energy market
 ‘Do it for me’ => Collective actions, new intermediaries,
aggregators
 Respect consumer’s choice not to play an active role
 Some consumers will need assistance
 If consumers are expected to modify their behaviour, they
need clear-cut benefits. It must be made easy & accessible for
them, advice should be available
Energy markets must be inclusive and work for consumer, not the
other way around.
Demand-side response
What is a smart demand response scheme:
 transparent (simple & clear offers + contracts)
 voluntary
 reward flexibility; don’t penalise inflexibility
 protect personal data
Demand response should focus on consumers’ needs &
experience => distributional analysis on the impact of ToU tariffs
Dedicated approach to self-generation
pic: City of Eindhoven
Welcome culture for self-generation
A ‘bike lane’ for the cyclists of electricity markets:
 Dedicated long-term strategy
 Priority grid access and dispatch
 Fair remuneration
Digitalisation of energy sector
brings BIG DATA challenge
If your shop assistant was an app
by the Danish Consumer Council
Thank you for your attention
www.beuc.eu – [email protected]