Court backs ERSE against gas distributors

A Lisbon administrative court has decided in favour of the Portuguese energy regulator ERSE in a litigation against local natural gas distributors.

The court agreed that the distributors had acted in a manner so as to “increase their incomes by more than €1000 million during the period of the respective concessions.
This cost would have been carried by “all average and low voltage consumers”, said the regulator in a communiqué.
According to ERSE,”regional gas distributors with the concession which belonged either directly or indirectly to the groups EDP and Galp, (concessions today part of the Allianz and REN groups), had, since 2010, annually contested the distribution tariff charges for medium and high voltages which under legal and regulatory terms are set by the ERSE.”
The regional distribution companies are: Beiragás, Lisboagás, Lusitaniagás, REN Portgás Distribuição, Setgás and Tagusgás.
These companies say the ERSE “wanted ERSE to recognise their right to additional revenues for carrying out their activities, invoking to that effect the right to compensation that would have been negotiated with the State, and reflected in the alteration of the contracts of concession of those involved in 2008”, explains the organisation.
The ERSE says that the court made clear that there was nothing in the evidential documents that set out the ERSE’s decisions on the rates the tariffs could be charged at, could be interpreted in other ways by the distributors.
The Lisbon Administrative Court in its decision on January 6, 2023: “Rejects all the claims from the operators of the distribution networks for the gas distribution years from 2010-2011 to 2013-2014”, states the ERSE.