Management of the Hungarian Energy Office - Magyar Energia Hivatal

Dear Reader,
The regulation of the energy sector has undergone signifi cant changes and yielded
many results during the past fi fteen years. The Hungarian Energy Offi ce (hereinafter
HEO), established in 1994, is one of Europe’s oldest regulator offi ces and is a defi ning
strategic character of the gradual market opening process leading from a regulated market
through a hybrid market – where the public utility and the free market segment operated
simultaneously – to the full market opening.
The gradual liberalization was launched on 1 January 2003 for the electricity market and
on 1 January 2004 for the natural gas market, the laws on the complete market opening
came into force on 1 January 2008 for the electricity industry and on 1 July 2009 for the
natural gas industry. After the full market opening residential consumers who do not wish
to take advantage of the possibility of trader switching may stay with the universal service
provider at an administrative price containing a maximum margin.
During the past one and a half decade the HEO has been continuously performing its
main tasks, namely the regulation of national electricity and gas companies as well as of
companies generating electricity by cogeneration, the protection of consumers’ interests
and the informing of stakeholders and the public. It also cooperated in the development of
the legal framework – acts and secondary legislation – of the energy sector.
In the fi rst period of its operation development and supervision of the regulated market,
price regulation, price application and consumer protection were the primary tasks of the
HEO. In the years after the opening of the energy markets supporting consumers to enter
the free market, analyzing market operation and refi ning legal and economic regulation
were of high priority for the HEO. Later market surveillance, market monitoring,
supporting a more effective and clear competition and ensuring a non-discriminatory
network access to the monopoly pipeline infrastructure came into the limelight. The new
regulation regime, the attendance of the competitive market and later the full market
opening has signifi cantly increased the number of tasks of the HEO.
From 2009 new tasks arose in the HEO’s activity, namely issuing the documents of origin
for electricity generated from renewable energy sources or waste, and from 1 July 2009
the consideration of initiatives of district heat suppliers for price modifi cation requests
regarding residential district heat prices. On the other hand, a signifi cant part of consumer
protection tasks – all consumer complaints on accounting, billing, payments or measuring,
disconnection and reconnection of electricity supply and district heat supply – were
remitted to the authority of the Nemzeti Fogyasztóvédelmi Hatóság (Hungarian Authority
for Consumer Protection).