Alliander is allowed to continue with its other activities

Dutch network company Alliander is allowed to continue with its other activities. Energy company RWE/Essent had asked the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) to take enforcement action against Alliander, but the law in its current form does not provide any opportunity to do so. This means that Alliander is allowed to continue with its subsidiaries Energy Exchange Enablers (EXE), HOOM and MPARE, which are respectively a software firm for energy transactions, an energy efficiency consultancy, and a platform for energy data.

According to ACM, Alliander’s other activities concern services that are related to infrastructure. Furthermore, these activities do not constitute energy generation, energy supply or energy trading.

During the roundtable discussion about the role of network management held in the Dutch House of Representatives in March 2015, ACM noted that network companies increasingly engage in other activities. According to ACM, we need to make sure that, because of their nature or scope, such activities do not present any risks to network management. ACM is in favour of having a clear definition of the role of network companies in order to prevent any anticompetitive behaviour. This has also been the idea of the Progress of the Energy Transition bill, which is currently in the consultation phase. In addition, ACM calls on network companies to be transparent about their activities.