Transmission tariffs for high-voltage grid will increase in 2020

The transmission tariffs for businesses that use the ultra-high-voltage grid will increase in 2020, on average, by 55%, and those for businesses that use the high-voltage grid, on average, by 37%. Dutch transmission system operator TenneT projects that this tariff increase will eventually result in an average Dutch household’s energy bill to increase by approximately 13 euros per year. This increase will not immediately be included in the 2020 energy bills for households, because these tariffs first need to be charged to the distribution system operators (DSOs). The DSOs will subsequently pass on these tariffs to households with a two-year delay.

Limiting the increase

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has been able to limit the tariff increase by allowing TenneT to use additional auction revenues to cover its permitted revenues, among other measures. The tariff increase has been the result of higher costs that TenneT had to incur because of the energy transition and an amendment to the cost allocation method, following recent rulings of the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb).

Tariff decision

In ACM’s tariff decision, published on December 13, 2019, ACM has set the permitted revenues for TenneT’s transmission and system services at 745 million euros. That is 100 million euros less than in TenneT’s tariff proposal. These 100 million euros need to be covered by using additional auction revenues, which were generated through the auctioning of cross-border transmission capacity.

In addition, ACM has decided to move 50 million euros in permitted revenues to the 2021 tariff year, which also helps in limiting the tariff increase for 2020.

See also:

13-12-2019 2020 Tariff Decision for TenneT (in Dutch)