The Minister of Environment and Energy requested the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) to make information about fuel prices more accessible and to propose potential legislative changes in this area, advocating an expansion of the regulator’s sanctioning powers to the petroleum system.
In a letter sent on August 28 to the chair of the ERSE Board, to which Lusa had access, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, begins by saying that she is “in agreement with the recommendations” that the supervisor presented in a study released on August 14 about the formation and evolution of road fuel prices in Portugal.
Following this initial analysis, the minister asks ERSE to reinforce “the instruments of transparency, economic supervision, and information to consumers,” deepening two matters in coordination with the “competent entities.”
One concerns transparency about price formation, considering that there must be “clearer, more coherent and accessible” information for consumers to understand.
“For this purpose, the harmonization of public price references should be evaluated, the review of the methodology used by the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) in presenting discounted prices, and the coexistence of the Efficient Price, published by ERSE, and the Reference Price, published by ENSE,” writes Maria da Graça Carvalho.
Next, the minister directs ERSE to deepen “the expansion of ERSE’s sanctioning powers to the National Petroleum System, with respect to the obligations covered by its regulatory and economic supervision powers, ensuring the protection of all consumers.”
In addition to setting these two tasks, Graça Carvalho asks ERSE to “send a note identifying the next concrete steps to be taken, the respective timetable, and the possible need for additional legislative or regulatory changes, including, where applicable, the elements necessary to prepare these changes.”
In the study requested in July by the minister and released on August 14, ERSE recommends to the Government a strengthening of transparency and supervision in the sector, but rejects there being grounds to intervene administratively in prices.
Among the identified measures is the need to “harmonize the public price references and reduce the risk of misinterpretations between ERSE’s Efficient Price and the Reference Price published by ENSE [National Entity for the Energy Sector].”
ERSE also recommends that the Government periodically review with the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) the methodology of the discounted price, including the discounts covered and the weights used.
The definition “in a clear and timely manner” of annual biofuel targets is another proposed measure, to prevent that “different levels of incorporation create cost advantages and market distortions that do not result from greater efficiency.”
Additionally, it advocates expanding ERSE’s sanctioning powers to the National Petroleum System, with respect to obligations covered by regulatory and economic supervision, to ensure “the protection of all consumers in a harmonious manner regardless of the energy vector used.”
Finally, the study proposes adopting “temporary measures of support, targeted at certain specific segments,” such as professional road transport, “if exceptional disturbances persist,” taking into account the role of this activity in the functioning of supply chains, in the distribution of goods, and in passenger transport.
