Management of the Hungarian Energy Office - Magyar Energia Hivatal

annual report 2009
OPERATION OF THE HEO, INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS, PUBLICITY
INSTITUTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
PUBLICITY
Bilateral institutional relations
In addition to HEO, other administrative bodies also perform
consumer protection tasks; HEO maintains – in accordance
with the practice of the previous years – regular relationship
with these bodies (Hungarian Competition Authority,
Ombudsmen, Parliamentary Commissioner for Data
Protection and Freedom of Information, Hungarian Authority
for Consumer Protection), and performed its work in
coordination with those. The cooperation with the Hungarian
Authority for Consumer Protection was even closer than in
the previous year, as the division of competencies, which took
place in the electricity sector on 1 January 2008, and in the
natural gas sector on 1 July 2009. From 1 July 2009, HEO
provides continuous professional support for the Hungarian
Authority for Consumer Protection in the management of
diffi cult customer complaints not only on electricity licensees,
but also on natural gas licensees. The competency rules were
made more unambiguous by the amendments of the Electricity
Act and the Gas Act, therefore fewer discussions were needed.
Special attention was drawn to the defi nition of the forms and
content of the data supply, as the information on complaints
serves as a basis for the regulatory and supervising activities
of HEO. In order to be able to monitor the observance of the
prescribed requirements it is indispensable that the data supply
of the Hungarian Authority for Consumer Protection fi ts to the
statistical system according to which HEO collects the data,
and on the basis of which it evaluates the activities of the
licensees. HEO also has an active and continuous relationship
with non-governmental organizations of customer protection.
Within the framework of this relationship, non-governmental
organizations give their opinion on the Business Conducts
Rules and resolutions on the quality of supply, and participate
in the work of the Energy Interest Representation Board on
every occasion.
International relations
HEO is member of the Council of European Energy Regulators
(CEER) and the European Regulators’ Group for
Electricity and Gas (ERGEG), which is operating as the
offi cial advisory body of the EU Commission. The employees
of HEO actively took part in the work of several working
groups and subcommittees of the CEER and ERGEG in 2009,
therefore they directly obtained information regarding the
questions and issues of European energy affairs (safety of
supply, sustainability, energy consumers), and they had the
possibility to represent the Hungarian interests during the
elaboration of the measures affecting the sector.
In addition to the above, from 2010, HEO delegates members
to the Renewable Energy Sources Concerted Action (RES
CA), which was established for the harmonic implementation
of the Directive on Renewables.
The President of the UN Working Party on Gas – which
performs data collection for the UN for gas storage, gas
transmission and security of supply studies – is one of the
employees of HEO.
HEO takes part in the work of the profession association of
the energy regulators of several countries of Central Eastern
Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, the Energy Regulators
Regional Association (ERRA). The president of ERRA is one
of the Directors of HEO, the Secretariat of ERRA operates in
the building of HEO.
From the sister authorities of the neighbouring countries, HEO
has good bilateral relationships with the Austrian E-control
and the Romanian ANRE.
The Energy Interest Representation Board (EÉT –
Energetikai Érdekképviseleti Tanács)
In 2009, the Energy Interest Representing Board held
semi-annual meetings with the participation of customers
and licensees. Magyar Energiafogyasztók Szövetsége
(The Association of the Hungarian Energy Customers),
Ipari Energiafogyasztók Fóruma (Forum of Industrial
Energy Customers) Országos Fogyasztóvédelmi Egyesület
(Association for Consumer Protection of Hungary) were the
permanent representatives of the customer’s side.
At the fi rst semi-annual meeting, EÉT reviewed the experience
of the gas crisis that occurred at the beginning of 2009, as well
as the connections between the European wholesale prices and
the Hungarian consumer prices.
The Agenda of the second semi-annual meeting of EÉT
included a report on the actual experience concerning the
introduction of the new gas market model, a report on the
experience gathered during the investigation of the electricity
outage of January 2009, as well as the pricing of the universal
natural gas service expected after July 2009.
CONDITIONS OF OPERATION
Financial Management of the HEO
HEO stands as a separate title in the budget of KHEM, it
receives state support for payment of the so-called income
supplements; the support was centrally determined and
obligatory. The extent of revenues of HEO and the procedures
of collection are regulated by KHEM Decree 30/2008 (31.10)
on the Service Fees of the Hungarian Energy Offi ce and the
Rules of Payment of the Administrative Service Fee and the
Supervision Fee, and GKM Decree 91/2007 (20.11) amended
by KHEM Decree 6/2009 (28.02). HEO is an independently
operating, fi nancially autonomous central administrative
body, that has full authority in managing his budgetary
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