Consolidated management report

2. LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT

On 9 July 2008, the European Parliament announced its planned changes to the third Single European Energy Market package of legislation which had been presented by the European Commission in September 2007. Despite considerable differences remaining between various positions in terms of the details, the overall direction of the legislation is clear: On the one hand, the powers of the regulatory authority will be extended, on the other, the requirements in terms of unbundling are expected to become far stricter, particularly with regards to operators of long-distance and transmission networks.

On 8 July 2008, the Austrian Parliament passed an amendment to the Green Electricity Act (Ökostromgesetz). In addition to raising the targets for electricity from ecologically sustainable sources, an increasing of the grants available and the introduction of a compensatory method for energy-intensive businesses were also agreed upon which will continue to be based on set metering rates. Due to the exceptions for industry contained in the legislation, the amendment has to be approved by the EU and can only then come into effect.

The passing of the Heating and Cooling Network Expansion Act (Wärme- und Kälteleitungsausbaugesetz), promulgated two days later on 10 July 2008, provides new opportunities for supplying district heating. The aim of this act is to achieve a permanent reduction in CO₂ emissions of three million tonnes per year. Up to EUR 60m per year of federal funds will be made available for heating and cooling pipes. On the one hand, it is permissible to use (waste) heat from fossil-fuel burning facilities for subsidised heating pipes. On the other, the possibility exists of establishing subsidised circular mains and connection pipes which increase the security of supply of district heating networks.

The so-called System Charges Order – Gas 2008 came into force on 1 February 2008.
This entailed the introduction into the gas market of the regulatory system of incentives which has applied to the electricity market since 1 January 2006. Due to the discontinuance of the previous cost assessments and required improvements in terms of productivity, costs and revenues can now be better forecast by network operators. The development of gas volumes, a factor which is considerably more volatile than sales in the electricity market due to the close linkage to temperature developments, has been stabilised in terms of prices through the introduction of a three-year average for the quantity of gas. The Grid Level 3 working prices relevant to the majority of customers increased by between 0.7% and 0.9%, while the base price rose by 4.7%.

The so-called System Charges Order – Electricity 2008 came into force on 1 January 2008. This led to a reduction in system charges of an average of 0.59%. With regards to the network loss charges, the ECG has recognised a purchase price of EUR 60.20/MWh, which represents an increase in network loss charges of 10.29%. As a result, the network charges for customers have risen by an average of 0.8% since 1 January 2008.

The second allocation period for CO₂ certificates began in 2008. Austria revised the National Allocation Plan for the Period 2008 to 2012 (NAP II) in accordance with the requirements imposed by the European Commission and submitted the revised NAP to the European Commission on 13 July 2007. The NAP II set the allocated quantity of emission certificates for existing industrial and energy sector facilities at 30.73 million per year, with each certificate being equivalent to one tonne of emissions. In comparison to the first allocation period between 2005 and 2007, this represents a reduction of 2.62 million tonnes.