OPCOM fined EUR 1 mln by EC for discriminating against EU electricity traders

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has handed down a EUR 1 million fine to OPCOM, Romania’s energy stock exchange, for discriminating against EU-based electricity traders from outside Romania for over five years.

The EC also holds OPCOM’s partner company Transelectrica, the grid operator, liable for the infringement.

“Power exchanges are key to the efficient functioning of energy markets, in the best interest of consumers. OPCOM’s abusive behavior prevented EU traders from joining the Romanian power exchange’s spot markets, creating an artificial barrier to entry in breach of EU competition rules,” said Joaquin Almunia, Commission vice president in charge of competition policy, in a statement.

“National barriers of this type do not only hamper the completion of a single market in energy, but also stand in the way of the development of efficient, liquid markets,” added the official.

The OPCOM has asked traders to obtain Romanian VAT registration even though they were already registered in their home country. As a result, EU traders would have to pay additional costs for a fixed establishment in the country, which dented their competitiveness against their Romanian peers.

“The number of affected traders is significant. On power exchanges in comparable markets, over 50 percent of the participants are EU traders without local VAT registration,” said the EC in a statement.

In another decision, the EC has imposed fines worth EUR 6 million on EPEX Spot and Nord Pool Spot (NPS), two leading European spot power exchanges. The two exchanges agreed not to compete with one another, mainly by allocating territories between themselves.