ACM: feed-in payments were too low in many cases

Over the past two years, approximately 20,000 households were each paid, on average, 60 euros too little for feeding electricity into the grid. They have now been repaid this amount or will be repaid soon. The cause of the too low payments was a calculation error that occurred in interim meter readings. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) contacted the energy suppliers about this issue. They were immediately willing to repay the outstanding amounts. ACM otherwise could have imposed fines or orders subject to periodic penalty payments.

People who generate power themselves, for example, using solar panels, but who do not consume all the energy they generate, feed this surplus energy into the grid. They get paid for this surplus energy, and their feed-in amounts are settled with their energy bills. The meters of some consumers were read earlier than usual, for example, because they had been given new meters or because the tariffs had changed. In that process, the suppliers made an error in the annual energy bills.

ACM offers consumer protection

Generating your own energy becomes more and more important in the energy transition. People who feed energy into the grid must be able to rely on the accuracy of their energy bills. In that context, ACM offers them consumer protection. ACM thus helps realize an energy supply that is sustainable, secure, and affordable.