The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) works to protect millions of energy customers from inflated electricity and gas bills caused by inaccurate estimates and preliminary readings. The agency is issuing new resolutions to electricity and gas providers, demanding full re-billing where customers were charged on faulty estimated readings or provisional data. These adjustments aim to refund overcharged users and ensure fair pricing that aligns with actual consumption.
CNMC’s move follows a notice from Red Eléctrica de España (REE) about many electricity distributors using daily provisional data published by REE to set charges. Monthly final tallies often diverge significantly from what customers paid, reflecting costs that may not be justified by genuine consumption.
Necessary arrangements
As the operator of Spain’s electricity network, REE has raised concerns about the practice of using log files by some suppliers and questioned whether these should be relied upon to calculate consumer costs. The data in those files can be inconsistent and unreliable, potentially altering what appears on final bills.
CNMC notes that marketers determine the references used to compute the final invoices under free market contracts. However, the conditions for billing must remain fair and proportional to the actual costs incurred by the companies involved.
If billing based on log files creates a noticeable gap compared with more precise data, and if that gap harms the consumer, the marketer should reflect it in the contract. That is the core idea behind the arrangements CNMC calls for in its recent decision about how the final price in the electricity market should be calculated.
Return without deadline
The competition authority has also scrutinized how some gas traders attempt to avoid refunding overcharged amounts when invoices are prepared using estimated consumption rather than actual meter readings. Some marketers argue that readings older than 12 months from the latest meter reading make retroactive refunds impractical, a view CNMC rejected in its ruling drawn from a question posed by one of the gas companies.
Gas meter readings are collected in the same way as electricity data, handled by distribution firms and transmitted to marketers so they can bill end customers. In cases where it is not possible to reach homes for a reading, marketers may use estimated consumption and wait for the distributor to provide a new actual reading.
The agency clarified its duty to ensure refunds when errors appear. If an estimated reading results in charges higher than what the consumer owes, the extra amount must be returned on the next invoice after the actual reading is obtained. There is no provision to split refunds over time.
CNMC also cautioned gas traders that the rule does not set a limit on when refunds must be issued. When the actual meter reading is determined, any overcharges should be fully returned to the consumer without delay.