Public stakeholders on the electricity market
The creation of a European energy market has meant introducing new operating procedures. These procedures were put into place by several European directives before being transposed into French law by the country’s parliament.
Independent authorities, the CRE, the Competition Authority and the Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes (DGCCRF – Department for competition, consumers and fraud) are tasked with enforcing adherence to the new market regulations..
The energy ombudsman is responsible for:
- recommending solutions to disputes arising from the implementation of contracts between consumers and energy suppliers,
- helping to inform electricity consumers about their rights.
Enedis and the public service contract
Since its creation on January 1, 2008, Enedis (ex-ERDF) has managed, operated, maintained and renewed 95% of its electricity distribution network on mainland France. These networks belong to local authorities (French municipalities or groups of municipalities), who subcontract the management and operation to Enedis through public service delegation. This delegation is legalised through a concession agreement.
Enedis is therefore responsible for 2 major public service duties associated with electricity distribution:
A public service contract[signed in October 2005 with the French Government, lays out the distributor's duties in terms of:
- network security,
- personal safety,
- environmental policy.
The contract also confirms Enedis's role in ensuring the safety of the electric system and of quality of supply during extreme conditions. This entails:
- Load shedding when production and consumption are imbalanced (at the request of RTE, the electricity Transmission System Operator electricity Transmission System Operator ,responsible for the overall safety of the electric system),
- the fast restoration of service for network users in cases of widespread disruption to supply.
The code of conduct
In compliance with the law (article L. 111-61 of the French energy code), the company has developed a code of conduct. This code elaborates the principles and commitments established by the company in order to prevent any discriminatory behaviour
Six principles form the basis of Enedis’s daily practices:
- equality of treatment,
- objectivity,
- transparency,
- data protection for commercially sensitive information,
- autonomy management
- image distinction.
Enedis has a Compliance Officer who is responsible for ensuring that the code of conduct is followed.
Each year, this officer writes a report on the application of the code of conduct. The report is presented to the Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE), the French regulatory authority for energy. Based on this report, the CRE assesses whether the code of conduct has been respected, as well as the independence of the electricity network manager.
