Court rejects power firms’ challenge to regulator’s decision

Tallinn Administrative Court has rejected challenges by Alexela, Elektrum Eesti and Eesti Energia against a decision by the Competition Authority approving changes to Elering’s balancing service methodology, ERR reported.

The Competition Authority approved the changes in June last year. The three companies argued that the decision also allowed them to challenge parts of the methodology not affected by the amendments, specifically the cost of balancing capacity, or the balancing service fee.

The court ruled that the regulation concerning balancing capacity costs could not be challenged in this case because it was not added to the methodology through the changes approved by the Competition Authority last June.

The court also found that the approved change benefited the companies rather than restricting their rights. The amendment extended Elering’s obligation to cover 100 percent of the capacity allocation costs until December 31, although the previous deadline would have been June 30.

As a result, Elering remained responsible for those costs until the end of 2025, and the companies did not have to pass them on to their customers.

The court ordered Alexela, Elektrum and Eesti Energia to jointly pay Elering 11,140 euros in legal costs.

The ruling has not yet taken effect and can be appealed to the Tallinn Circuit Court within 30 days.