ERRA Issue paper: ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF UTILITY DATA: THE ENERGY REGULATORY PERSPECTIVE

The goal of this Paper is to identify the various barriers to data access and availability experienced by ERRA regulators within the context of the legal framework in ERRA countries and internationally, particularly in the European Union. Ideally, regulators would have available to them all utility data, presented in a usable manner, as their core tariff and licensing responsibilities require broad sets of information in order to make fair and accurate assessments. This is particularly true for those regulators with strong monitoring powers, though even among regulators with light monitoring powers, ready and reliable access to information is key to the basic accomplishment of their tasks. As a practical matter, several factors make access and availability challenging, and specific circumstances in each jurisdiction require careful consideration.

This Issue Paper seeks to identify legal requirements and applicable guidelines, highlight the various challenges experienced by ERRA regulators, and offer recommendations as to paths forward. The final section suggests the introduction of criteria on data access and availability to improve regulatory performance.