EU launches debate on electricity market reform amid rising consumer bills

 

European Union proposals to overhaul its electricity market will attempt to better protect consumer energy bills from short-term swings in fossil fuel prices, the European Commission said on Monday (23 January).

The EU is reforming its power market to attempt to avoid a repeat of last year, when cuts to Russian gas supply drove European electricity prices to record levels, hiking bills for households and forcing some industries to close.

In a public consultation launched on Monday, the Commission laid out numerous options to overhaul the way power plants sell electricity, as part of the market reform it will propose in March.

Although the current market design has worked for many years, it “has also demonstrated some shortcomings,” the EU executive acknowledged, saying the current gas crisis has pushed the burden of higher energy costs on to final consumers. (...)