House of Representatives approves new Energy Act for 'better consumer protection'

The Dutch House of Representatives has approved by a large majority the bill for the new Energy Act, which should replace the current Electricity Act from 1998. The Senate must still approve the bill before the law is officially adopted. Of the 150 members of the House of Representatives, only 9 politicians voted against the bill. Only the SP, Forum for Democracy and JA21 voted against. This may be an indication of the response of the Senate to the bill.

According to the central government, the replacement for the current Gas Act and the Electricity Act has been in the works for years. Outgoing Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten says: “Our energy supply can no longer be compared to that of 20 years ago, but many regulations still date from that time.” The new law must modernize energy regulations.

The bill states, among other things, that energy suppliers must offer a fixed model contract of at least one year. In addition, the conditions and invoicing of these companies must be more transparent for consumers.

The bill also introduces new rules for exchanging data. This data must be easier to view for consumers, but also easier to share with, for example, price comparison sites and energy consumption managers. The press release calls this better regulation of 'secure data exchange between grid operators, energy suppliers and customers'.