Tariffs in 2010

22-12-2009 On 17 December 2009, the Office of Energy Regulation decided on the transmission services and system services tariffs which TenneT will start charging its customers in 2010. On this web page, we provide you with further information regarding the Tariff Decision.

2010 tariffs versus 2009 tariffs
Transmission tariffs for EHV consumers (for the 380 kV and 220 kV grids) will decrease by an average of 1% compared to 2009; transmission tariffs for HV consumers (for the 110 kV and 150 kV grids) will increase by an average of 21% compared to 2009. The system services tariff will increase by 6% compared to last year. For the most part, these tariff increases are the consequence of declining revenues which are expected in 2010 due to the current economic climate. This expectation is also based on data indicating prospective transmission volumes for 2010.

Office of Energy Regulation Tariff Decision versus TenneT tariff proposal
The Office of Energy Regulation has assessed TenneT’s tariff proposal and has changed several key aspects of it. TenneT based the proposed transmission tariffs on the current regulation method as defined in the Method Decision for the fourth regulatory period (2008-2010). The proposal for the system services tariff is based on the costs TenneT incurred for these services and the costs it expects to incur over the coming year. The system services tariff also covers the costs for any market facilitating activities by TenneT. These activities include preparing for the energy transition, the development of an offshore electricity grid and the development of an integrated European market.

The Office of Energy Regulation has refused to adopt a few of TenneT’s proposals. These include the following:

TenneT requested the costs of two considerable investments to be covered, namely the new control centre in Ede and the Borssele substation. The Office of Energy Regulation is of the opinion that these investments fail to satisfy the necessary legal criteria for their costs to be covered.
The Office of Energy Regulation also deemed that some costs incurred in carrying out market facilitating activities will not (yet) be reimbursed in 2010.
In its decision the Office of Energy Regulation has once again applied the transitional arrangement in accordance with the 2009 Tariff Decision. In the 2009 Tariff Decision the Office of Energy Regulation stipulated that the tariffs for end-consumers will rise in three steps until they reach a uniform tariff level in 2011 that applies to end-consumers and regional grid operators. This means that the tariffs for end-consumers and regional grid operators differ from one another in both 2009 and 2010. TenneT has not incorporated this transitional arrangement in its proposal, since the arrangement is not in line with previous tariff decisions taken by the NMa (Netherlands Competition Authority). In the (revised) decisions on lodged objections in 2007 and 2008, the NMa has since concluded that consumers and grid operators must be treated equally.

Among other things, TenneT is considering lodging an objection against the 2010 Tariff Decision because of the fact that the abovementioned proposals were vetoed. We will keep you informed of any further progress.

Tariff outlook over the coming years
TenneT is planning to invest more than three billion euros over the next five years. The money will be spent on a range of projects, including the Randstad 380 kV, North-West 380 kV and South-West 380 kV projects. Among other purposes, these projects are needed to accommodate the large number of requests for new connections to the grid. These necessary investments will allow the Netherlands to strengthen its position in the European energy market, leading to an increase in security of supply that all parties will be able to profit from in the long term. Due to these investments TenneT expects that the tariffs for the transmission and system services will increase in the future.

You will presently receive an overview of the 2010 tariffs which apply to you.