Regulating Smart Distributed Generation Electricity Systems in the European Union

Abstract

Technological advancements facilitate the transition to a decentralised and smart distributed generation electricity system where active customers will have a key role. Such a transition can contribute to making the electricity systems cleaner, more secure, more efficient and less expensive. Nevertheless, the promotion of distributed generation requires reforms to the applicable legislation, so that it fits the new reality. Accordingly, the Commission has put forward a proposal for a new Directive on the common rules for the internal electricity market. This proposal shows the Commission’s support in distributed generation and focuses on the promotion of self-consumption, instead of net metering, and on the empowerment of electricity customers through smart meter technologies and secure data management and data protection regimes. This proposal might originate the development of a supranational legislative framework fitting technological innovation in the field of electricity, but it is rather a basic starting point. It remains to be seen how Member States will respond to these initiatives and how they will implement the relevant Directive, when – and if – enacted.