annual report 2011 - Konkurentsiamet

and obligations. The money allegedly collected from consumers for the purpose of future
investments does not give any guarantees to the consumer that it will not be divested as sweat
equity, invested carelessly or used to pay off other costs, claims or encumbrances. As there is no
legislative regulation for the state to bind water supply operators to store the money for the
purpose of the investments to be made in the future, consumers must not make obligatory noninterest-bearing
investments in a water supply operator’s undertaking. When there is a need for
investments, a water supply operator can apply to the Competition Authority for the approval of
the price incorporating the necessary investments. In the course of processing the application for
the price approval, the Competition Authority will thoroughly assess the undertaking’s
sustainability and investment ability as well as its ability to pay back its loans.
Water supply operators must also take into consideration the efficiency of the investments they
make. Experience has demonstrated that water supply operators tend to forecast a significant
degradation of the performance of a water treatment plant after the extensive investment of the
Cohesion Fund support in a water treatment plant and in the extensive chemical agents
consumption it implies, which increases the pollution amounts and, consequently, the amount of
environmental charges.
Activation of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy
Regulators
The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), with its headquarters
located in Ljubljana, became operational on 3 March, 2011. The ACER cooperates with national
regulatory authorities, European Union (EU) institutions, and market participants, especially the
ENTSO-E and ENTSO-G, the associations of European network of transmission system
operators. One of ACER’s objectives lies in making a contribution to the functioning of crossborder
energy trading and to eliminating the obstacles that might emerge in the process as well as
in helping national regulatory authorities fulfil their regulation tasks on the EU level and
coordinate the activities of such authorities if necessary. To fulfil the above objectives, the ACER
provides opinions and recommendations to the network of transmission system operators,
national regulatory authorities and EU institutions, and makes particular decisions and prepares
framework guidelines.
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