The proposal to cut the regulated remuneration of electricity and gas companies made by the energy team of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has opened a new crack in the heart of the body. The Plenary of the regulator is analyzing the 14 circulars made by the energy team these weeks after the presentation of allegations by the companies affected and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The changes do not convince several advisers, who explain to EL MUNDO that they are working on amendments to clarify some of the most controversial aspects of the new regulation, mainly those that affect the gas sector.

For the moment, four of the circulars have already passed through the Plenary of the CNMC, whose procedure orders that they be analyzed by the State Council before returning to Competition for final approval before the end of this year. These are changes that affect the remuneration of the technical manager of the gas system and the remuneration of the operator of the electrical system, whose items represent a very small part of the energy tariffs. However, this has not prevented the directors from also proposing amendments.

The fat comes in the coming weeks, when the council analyzes the proposals for cuts in the remuneration of transport and distribution activities in the electricity and, above all, gas sectors. This is an adjustment close to 6,000 million whose publication last July sank the price of large companies in the sector. Currently, members of the regulatory room are analyzing the allegations and proposing "improvements," sources close to the council explain. Naturgy, the group with the largest market share in gas, has halted its investments in distribution in Spain and has sent home more than 300 employees until uncertainty about the remuneration change is cleared.

Council sources believe that most of the amendments will be carried out in the gas sector after completing the technical work of the energy team led by Fernando Hernández. This is one of the members of the bilateral commission formed by the CNMC and the Ministry of Ecological Transition to analyze their discrepancies in this matter. The contacts intensified after the department directed by Teresa Ribera questioned the circulars of the CNMC because they were not linked to their energy policy orientations and warned that they did not comply with the principles of financial prudence. The first of the meetings between the parties in relation to the competences of both departments ended without agreement. José María Marín Quemada leads the team of the regulator and the Secretary of State for Energy, José Domínguez Abascal, represents the ministry. The parties have not yet sat down to discuss the issue of cuts, although they are expected to do so in the coming days. The current legislation forces to celebrate this commission to approach positions, although it leaves all the capacity of decision in the hands of the CNMC, that can modify its drafts after listening to the ministry or not touching anything after having "heard" the ministry.

The amendments proposed by some directors will then face the scrutiny of the Plenary itself, which has to vote whether or not to incorporate them. Sources close to this management body believe that the modifications made to the electricity distribution and transport circulars will be minimal, while they foresee more stir in the case of gas when considering that the cut is at some points "excessive". In this sense, they emphasize that it is important to achieve the highest level of consensus and legal shield against the foreseeable demands that the energy companies interpose.

The employer Sedigas was very hard in her allegations to cut to criticize that it had been carried out "with an insufficient level of analysis" and lacking "information in detail that allows an economic assessment." «The losses experienced by the companies in the sector show the unexpected and radical nature proposed by the draft circular. This insecurity and instability lead to greater uncertainty that discourages investment, ”he said.

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  • Naturgy
  • Teresa Ribera
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