At that time a Contract change requests for regulated rates are avalanche, so-called tariffs of last resort (TUR), which still exist; and Competition has opened an information file to the four major companies responsible for offering these rates (Naturgy, Iberdrola, Endesa and Totalenergies), still working.
CNMC then started Request the information the big four gas companies have to submit each month the technical and personnel resources used to cope with the flood of fare change requests, the number of answered and missed calls, the waiting times and the number of registrations made, following complaints from many consumers due to too long. initial waits due to lack of information and difficulties in fulfilling the contract.
Competition decided Maintain this information requirement for companies until at least the end of AprilMeanwhile, they will re-evaluate the need to continue or suspend surveillance. An information request that is no longer limited to regulated rates that private customers can contract, but also expanded to the new neighborhood rate for owner communities.
While waiting to decide whether the information file should remain open, CNMC refuses to take the step of filing sanctions against major energy companies, as confirmed by the official sources of the organization to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA. Initiating a disciplinary case would require sufficient evidence that violations were committed, which would open the possibility of sanctioning groups.
The fact sheet is the first step in the audit processes that the CNMC can conduct in regulated industries. In many cases, it serves as a notification to seafarers so that companies can correct their actions before initiating a disciplinary case. And in this case, the organism thinks it’s working.
Supplements and “normality”
It is emphasized that there are problems from competition. “attention bad” Due to the “exponential growth” of contract change requests in September and especially in October, customers of energy companies concentrated, but they returned to “normal” in the second half of November, thanks to the reinforcements implemented by energy. companies at rates regulated in the marketing channels of their subsidiaries. “Therefore, no disciplinary case is currently being considered,” the agency says.
What the CNMC management is considering is the possibility of introducing permanent “preventive measures” to companies. avoid more crashes in the future. In this sense, the agency plans to ensure that regulated rate marketers have an automated online contract channel easily available on the company’s websites, not just over the phone channels or in-person business offices, as has been the case before.
TRANSFER CONTINUES
Major energy companies continue to register a large customer transfer Towards regulated natural gas rates due to the help commissioned by the Government to lower the bill in the midst of the energy crisis. After the first avalanche in recent months, contract transfers have not stopped, in fact, they have intensified so far this year. A full trade breakdown compared to the trend in recent years, when regulated tariffs have a declining customer base and that of free market tariffs has grown.
In the heat of state aid, major energy groups add nearly 200,000 new customers to regulated rate trading companies Gas only in January. A new mass transfer of customers, almost 550,000 records at regulated rates It was registered in the last months of last year – the price of which is determined quarterly by the Government and it is currently applying huge discounts.
Right now, about 2.2 million households They contracted regulated gas rates, more than 33% above existing volume, when the executive activated the final aid scheme last October. However, the number of customers covered by the free gas market tariffs – the price of which is freely determined by the companies – is much higher than the number of customers of the regulated enterprise, which is determined quarterly by the State based on the development of international prices. hydrocarbons, but their increase has the maximum limit since last year.
This free market rates remain the majority option and approximately 6 million customers although they are still kept inside. posting strong increases due to contract revaluation and the impact of rising gas prices on international markets.
Last October, the Government activated a million-dollar package of measures to lower the price of regulated gas tariffs; A anti-crisis shield With 3,000 million euros in aid, it plans to continue to limit by law increases in the regulated gas tariff already applicable to more than 2 million customers through 2023, while also creating a new type of discounted tariff for centralized households. neighborhood community warming (currently around 2,000 neighborhood communities will participate).