Association agreement (energy industry)

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The association agreements in the field of energy management in Germany regulated the so-called negotiated network access for the transmission of energy (electricity and gas) until 2004 . The association agreements are the various contractual agreements for the transmission of energy through transport and distribution networks , which were concluded between 1998 and 2004 between the interest groups of German industry on the one hand and those of the German energy supply companies on the other.

background

The need for such agreements arose in 1998 through an amendment to the Energy Industry Act , in which negotiated network access was provided as a measure to liberalize the energy markets . Further legal bases were the law against restraints of competition (GWB) and, at European level, the directives 2003/54 / EC (electricity directive) and 98/30 / EC (natural gas directive).

Germany was the only EU country that (initially) opted for negotiated network access instead of regulated network access. Ultimately, the voluntary, contractually negotiated agreements failed because they did not prove to be a sufficiently effective tool for market liberalization and were particularly criticized by consumers. In 2004 and 2005, the agreements were replaced by state regulation (monitored by the Federal Network Agency ) due to new EU requirements (Acceleration Directive 2003/55 / ​​EC) and a further revision of the EEC .

Associations involved

The industry positions were represented by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the Association of Industrial Energy and Power Management (VIK). The EVU's side represented the Association of German Electricity Works (VDEW) for electricity networks , the Federal Association of the German Gas and Water Management (BGW) for long-distance gas networks , and later also the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU), the Working Group of Regional Energy Supply Companies (ARE), the Deutsche Verbundgesellschaft (DVG), followed by the Association of Network Operators (VDN). Most recently, the Federal Association of New Energy Suppliers (bne) and the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET) were also involved in the negotiations, but no contract signatories.

History of agreements

Association agreements for electricity

prehistory

As early as 1979, industry and energy suppliers had concluded a similar association agreement ("Principles on the electricity industry cooperation between public electricity supply and industrial power industry") , which, however, had a purely private contract character and was not involved in state market regulation.

VV I (current)

  • Date: May 22, 1998 (based on an agreement in principle from August 1997)
  • Title: Association agreement on criteria for determining transmission charges for electrical energy
  • Associations: BDI, VIK and VDEW
  • Main contents: Determination of the amount of the distance-dependent fee for the transit and the other transit procedure; Pass-through as a transaction

The association agreement was supplemented by technical regulations to regulate the technical and operational details. These were the cooperation rules for the German transmission system operators (grid code or transmission code) as well as the rules for access to distribution networks (distribution code) and the metering code for the design of the electricity meter and data transmission.

VV II (electricity)

  • Date: December 13, 1999.
  • Title: Association agreement on criteria for determining network usage charges for electrical energy
  • Associations: BDI, VIK, VDEW, DVG, ARE, VKU
  • Main contents: Pass-through no longer as a transaction; Simplified transmission procedure, especially for small consumers; Billing with point tariffs taking into account representative load profiles (→ omission of performance measurement every quarter of an hour); Determination of the network usage fee using balancing groups; Elimination of the north and south trading zones; Simplified contract conclusion

VV II + (electricity)

  • Date: December 13, 2001.
  • Title: Association agreement on criteria for determining network usage fees for electrical energy and on principles of network usage
  • Associations: BDI, VIK, VDEW, VDN, ARE, VKU
  • Main contents: comparative market concept; Consideration of the degree of simultaneity

Association agreements for gas

VV I (gas)

  • Date: July 4, 2000 (with two amendments on March 15 and September 21, 2001)
  • Title: Association agreement on network access for natural gas (in the Federal Republic of Germany)
  • Associations: BDI, VIK, BGW, VKU
  • Basis: Directive on common rules for the internal market in natural gas (98/30 / EC)
  • Contents: Transaction-dependent network access based on individual negotiations with distance-dependent tariffs

VV II (gas)

  • Date: May 3, 2002.
  • Title: Association agreement on network access for natural gas (in the Federal Republic of Germany)
  • Associations: BDI, VIK, BGW, VKU
  • Contents: regulations for private customers

Limited until September 30, 2003. Negotiations about a follow-up regulation (VV Gas III) were broken off.

literature

  • Michael Heuterkes, Matthias Janssen (ed.): The regulation of gas and electricity markets in Germany (=  contributions from applied economic research . No. 29 ). Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster 2008 ( wiwi.uni-muenster.de [PDF]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Eike Arnold: The German electricity sector in the liberalization process: Analysis and recommendations for action for a liberalized market against the background of the accusation of restricted competition . GRIN-Verlag , 2011, ISBN 978-3-640-87094-3 .
  2. ↑ a b c Michael Heuterkes, Matthias Janssen (ed.): The regulation of gas and electricity markets in Germany (=  contributions from applied economic research . No. 29 ). Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster 2008 ( uni-muenster.de [PDF]).
  3. ↑ Boris Stäck: The liberalization of the German gas market . Inaugural dissertation . Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, December 2008 ( uni-muenster.de [PDF]).
  4. ↑ Andreas Seeliger: Has the association agreement on the use of the electricity grid failed? In: Economic Service . tape 2000 / XI , p. 661–665 ( econstor.eu [PDF]).
  5. ↑ Udo Leuschner : Tragedy in five acts. Retrieved January 16, 2012 .
  6. ↑ a b Niklas Hoyer: Incentive regulation on the German electricity market . Thesis . GRIN-Verlag , 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-68884-0 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  7. ↑ a b Karsten Herzmann: Consultations (=  studies on regulatory law ). Mohr Siebeck, 2010, ISBN 978-3-16-150532-4 .
  8. ↑ a b c d Florian Becker : Cooperative and consensual structures in norm setting (=  Jus publicum . Volume  129 ). Mohr Siebeck, 2005, ISBN 3-16-148572-6 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  9. ^ Udo Leuschner: The 1st association agreement is overwhelmed by market events. Retrieved January 16, 2012 .
  10. ^ A b Günter Knieps, Gert Brunekreeft (ed.): Between regulation and competition. Network sectors in Germany . 2nd Edition. Birkhäuser, 2002, ISBN 3-7908-1535-7 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  11. ↑ a b Udo Leuschner: The 2nd association agreement turns "transmission" into "network use". Retrieved January 16, 2012 .
  12. ↑ a b Timo Hohmuth: The essential structural elements of the energy law reform 1998 and its European legal bases . GRIN-Verlag , 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-63779-4 .
  13. ^ Association of Network Operators (Ed.): Commentary Volume: Implementation of the Association Agreement on Criteria for Determining Network Usage Charges for Electrical Energy and Principles of Network Usage of December 13, 2001 (VV II +) . ( lew-verteilnetz.de [PDF]).
  14. ↑ Udo Leuschner: The 3rd association agreement realizes the "comparison market concept". Retrieved January 16, 2012 .
  15. ^ A b Nadja Daniela Klag: The liberalization of the gas market in Germany . Tectum, Marburg 2003, ISBN 3-8288-8457-1 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  16. ↑ a b Michael A. Braun: The German gas market in transition . GRIN-Verlag , 2008, ISBN 978-3-640-18431-6 .