Elektrilevi must pay more attention to the elimination of network connection interruptions

15.10.2021 | 00:00

On 27 April this year, the Estonian Competition Authority completed the supervision proceedings regarding the fire in the Jõgeva regional substation and the large-scale power outage that occurred as a result. The authority established that Elektrilevi AS violated the quality requirements for network services regarding the duration of network interruption.
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On 27 April this year, the Estonian Competition Authority completed the supervision proceedings regarding the fire in the Jõgeva regional substation and the large-scale power outage that occurred as a result. The authority established that Elektrilevi AS violated the quality requirements for network services regarding the duration of network interruption.

Elektrilevi AS acknowledged that in the event of the interruption in Jõgeva, the established requirements for 3,119 consumers were exceeded and therefore, the network charges of consumers were reduced by 24,920.81 euros, which is on average 8 euros per consumer.

The authority recommends Elektrilevi to review the work and composition of the Information Centre for Crisis Management set up for dealing with power outages, so that informing the public about power outages and their effects is carried out in accordance with the principle of equal treatment and is uniform for electricity sales companies.

There were also problems in communicating with the local government in eliminating the power outage. The proceedings revealed that the communication principles between Elektrilevi and local governments are incomplete or non-existent. Therefore, the authority recommends Elektrilevi, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Rescue Board, local governments, and vital service providers, to develop specific principles on the basis of which communication takes place in the event of major power outages.

The Estonian Competition Authority supervises compliance with the quality requirements for network connections pursuant to the Electricity Market Act and Regulation No. 42 of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of 6 April 2005 ‘Quality Requirements for Network Services and the Conditions for Reducing Network Charges in case of Breaches of Those Requirements’.

An extract from the supervision proceedings without business secrets is available on the website of the Estonian Competition Authority.