EU Regulation of Gas Transmission Tariffs in the Netherlands and the UK

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EU Regulation of Gas Transmission Tariffs in the Netherlands and the UK Charting the Gaps: EU regulation of gas transmission tariffs in the Netherlands and the UK Manuel Klop1 January 2009 NG 26 1 The author completed most of the work while an associate visiting student at New College, Oxford. He currently is an MA candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. The contents of this paper are the author’s sole responsibility. They do not necessarily represent the views of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies or any of its members. Copyright © 2008 Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (Registered Charity, No. 286084) This publication may be reproduced in part for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgment of the source is made. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. ISBN 978-1-901795-82-0 ii Preface The Dutch and British gas markets are among the largest in the Europe and therefore the way in which these two countries have chosen to organise third party access to networks is extremely significant. The differences of approach between EU countries, even those which have embraced liberalisation and third party access with relative enthusiasm, are a matter of great importance to the success of the evolution of a single European gas market. For these reasons this paper on the “gaps” between the Dutch and the British approach is a welcome contribution to the Natural Gas Programme’s work on European gas liberalisation following the papers by: Lohmann on Germany, Haase on regulatory regimes, Cavaliere on Italy and Hunt on entry-exit tariffs. The fact that this publication sets out the evolution of the Dutch tariffication methodology using original sources, is a particularly important contribution to the literature on European gas liberalisation. Manuel Klop was an intern at the Institute during the summer of 2008. I am very grateful for the outstanding job he did in producing this study in the short time he was with us, and seeing it through to publication during his studies in the US. Jonathan Stern January 2009 iii Acknowledgements I would first and foremost like to express my gratitude to Professor Jonathan Stern. His knowledge and experience are inspiring, and proved invaluable throughout the process of writing this paper. Valuable comments were also received from many others across industry and regulators including, though not limited to, the attendees of the 2008 meeting of the OIES gas programme’s sponsors, Paul Hunt, Erik Rakhou, Johan Boerema, Eddie Blackburn, and Sybren de Jong. The topic was suggested by Daniel Simmons. The final responsibility, however, remains entirely my own. I thank Kate Teasdale and Catherine Gaunt for improving the language and design. I also would like to express my gratitude to my parents. Their contributions over the years have varied in kind, though never in importance, and I am grateful to them. iv Contents 1 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................1 2 Introduction......................................................................................................................................2 3 EU Framework: sector specific regulation........................................................................................6 3.1 Transit Directive.........................................................................................................................6 3.2 The First Directive...................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Guidelines for Good Practice....................................................................................................9 3.4 Second Directive.....................................................................................................................12 3.5 GGP 2 ......................................................................................................................................15 3.6 Access Regulation 2005/1775/EC...........................................................................................16 3.7 Explanatory Notes ...................................................................................................................18 4 EU Framework: competition law....................................................................................................19 4.1 Growing importance................................................................................................................20 4.2 Broad overview....................................................................................................................... 21 4.3 Access tariffication implications.............................................................................................25 5 Potential Regulatory Gaps..............................................................................................................31 5.1 Cost Accounting......................................................................................................................31 5.2 Cost‐reflective tariffs ..............................................................................................................37 5.3 Entry–exit tariffs ......................................................................................................................41 6 The Netherlands .............................................................................................................................45 6.1 Dutch gas .................................................................................................................................45 6.2 Regulation................................................................................................................................47 6.3 Costs .......................................................................................................................................52 6.4 Cost‐reflectivity .......................................................................................................................56 6.5 Tariff structures .......................................................................................................................67 7 The UK.............................................................................................................................................69 7.1 UK gas ......................................................................................................................................69 7.2 Regulation................................................................................................................................69 7.3 Costs ........................................................................................................................................73 7.4 Cost‐reflectivity .......................................................................................................................75 7.5 Tariff structures .......................................................................................................................76 8 Reguatory Gaps ..............................................................................................................................79 8.1 Article 22 exemptions: BBL......................................................................................................80 v 9 Policy Implications..........................................................................................................................82 10 Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................................................85 11 Bibliography..................................................................................................................................87 12 Cases.............................................................................................................................................99 Figures and Tables Figure 1: Linear Depreciation and TSO Profits Excluding Taxes and Inflation ......................................53 Table 1: The Brattle Group’s definition of P2P competition................................................................61 vi 1 Abstract After over a decade of politically sensitive regulatory development regarding third party access tariffs, cost-reflectivity became the European tariffication principle and entry–exit the structure of choice. The Netherlands and the UK are often cited as examples of good implementation of European regulation. This paper analyses the three key regulatory questions that need to be answered: • which costs are reflected • how are they reflected in the total revenue requirement • how is this revenue requirement allocated to shippers This paper then establishes that these questions are answered very differently in the Netherlands and in the UK. If the advanced implementation of the same set of EU regulations can lead to two different systems in two different countries, the EU regulation clearly fails to streamline regulation. Depending on the regulatory objectives pursued, streamlining regulation may be necessary and renewed regulatory efforts are required. In doing so, the way in which the three key questions are answered is vital. 1 2 Introduction In November 2007, after over ten years of gas market
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