Implementing the CEP: Options for Balance Responsibility for Active Consumers in the Netherlands

At present, small consumers in Europe are not responsible for balancing their own supply and demand of electricity. In the context of ongoing discussions on the implementation of the Clean Energy Package (CEP), we see a need to research alternatives to the traditional integrated balance responsibility model where the responsibility is always at the Energy Supplier. Alternatives include models in which consumers have the ability to mandate responsibility to other parties than their (first) Energy Supplier or are responsible themselves. Such alternative models remove barriers for active consumer participation in energy trading and energy flexibility activities, but have an impact on the level of consumer protection. In this paper, we give an actual view on the pros and cons of different balance responsibility management approaches for active prosumers in the Netherlands.