annual report 2011 - Konkurentsiamet

In 2011, network operators such as OÜ Pogi (Paide City district heating region), AS Tallinna
Küte (Tallinn City district heating region) and AS Rakvere Soojus (Rakvere City district heating
region) declared their interest in purchasing heat. No other heat producers declared an interest in
heat production/sales in case of OÜ Pogi, so the undertaking did not actually have to organise a
tender. Four different heat producers declared their interest in selling heat to AS Tallinna Küte
after the preliminary notice was published, so AS Tallinna Küte organised the required tender,
having submitted the tender conditions to the Competition Authority before publishing the call
for tenders. AS Tallinna Küte and the Competition Authority held repeated meetings in the
course of approval proceedings, in addition, the exchange of relevant opinions of the parties took
place in writing. As a result, the Competition Authority granted a complete approval of AS
Tallinna Küte’s tender conditions, and the undertaking called for the relevant tender. AS Rakvere
Soojus has by now notified the Competition Authority and published the relevant notifications
on its web page and in a national daily newspaper.
To sum up, it may be said that the regulation is functioning and network operators have become
more active in using the above opportunities. The Competition Authority has by now supervised
one tender of major importance (the AS Tallinna Küte tender) from its very beginning, which
provided the Competition Authority with valuable experience and applicable knowledge about
the nuances that must receive special attention in the process of organising and conducting a
tender.
Complaints of consumers and judicial practice
While there had been changes in the regulation of the energy sector that had contributed to some
ambiguity and arguable issues in legislation in the previous years (for instance, the partial opening
of the electricity market on 01/04/2010), there were no changes in regulation in 2011, so there
were somewhat fewer complaints and disputes. The disputes in the energy sector mainly
concerned the following issues: the interruption of a network connection by the network
operator, the identification of the illegal use of electricity and network services (and the checking
of the bills issued to customers as a result), the implementation of standard terms and conditions
and the checking of connection charges. To summarise, it may be noted that none of the
complaints processed by the Competition Authority became a so-called precedent case where the
matter or the nature of the dispute would significantly contribute to a more literal interpretation
of legal acts in the energy sector (incl. the interpretation in the course of legal proceedings).
However, some cases indicated the imperfection of certain legal acts of the energy sector. For
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