EDP accused of abusing its dominant position

The competition authority is suing Portugal’s electricity giant EDP for €140 million for damages to the electricity system and final customers by abusing its position of dominance in the market.

The accusations which cover the period 2009 to 2013 were broken on a national TV news channel SIC Notícias and have been confirmed by the competition Authority.

EDP Produção could end up being fined by an amount corresponding to a maximum of 10% of its turnover (around €140 million).

EDP, which enjoys a position of virtual dominance in the Portuguese market, has seen profits consistently hover around €1Bn between 2010 and 2017 with its highest profits in 2011 and last year at around €1.1Bn.

EDP is accused of having benefitted from manipulating electrical system services for four years through free regimen price hikes, thereby increasing bills paid by both families and companies while at the same time being compensated by the State through the CMEC (Costs through the Maintenance of Contractual Equilibrium).

It is not the first time that EDP has fallen foul of Portugal’s anti-trust authority. In 2017 it fined the utility €28.7 million and retail giant Sonae €9.6 million for an illegal non-competition pact between their subsidiaries.

Under a 2012 agreement, Sonae had committed itself to not competing against EDP in electricity trading in Portugal for two years.

EDP told the online newswire ECO that the company was notified of the illicit nature of the present complaint from the competition authority and would study it and consider contesting the accusation.