Czech industry ministry submits amendment proposal on setting up energy communities

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) has submitted for inter-ministerial consultation a proposed amendment enabling the establishment of energy communities and the sharing among their members of locally generated electricity. The ministry announced this on its website. Supporters of community energy welcome the proposal, but point to a provision which they say gives energy suppliers the ability to prevent the effective functioning of communities. The amendment also introduces protection for socially vulnerable customers.

„This amendment will enable the development of so-called community energy, which will help households, municipalities and companies facilitate their own energy generation, primarily from renewable sources. Thanks to the amendment, it will be possible to share all generated energy between supply points that are members of an energy community, and it will no longer be necessary to feed surplus generated energy back into the grid,“ said Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Síkela (STAN).

He believes the amendment will lead to the development of renewable sources and, in turn, strengthen Czechia's energy independence.

The amendment will be based on so-called energy communities, whose members will be able to share with one another the energy they generate. Members of these communities may therefore include, for example, homeowners' associations (SVJ), households, municipalities, schools, public authorities or even entire small businesses. The main purpose of a community should not be to generate profit, but to provide economic or social benefits to its members. As examples of community energy in practice, the ministry cited electricity generation from a solar or wind power plant in a municipality, electricity generation in apartment buildings, and electricity generation and subsequent sharing within a business.

The proposed legislative amendment also introduces a definition of a socially vulnerable customer. This is a group of customers who may face health or socioeconomic difficulties. For them, the proposal introduces selected protective measures, such as a ban on disconnection from energy supplies or a special approach to communication between energy suppliers and distributors.

The submission of the amendment was welcomed by the Community Energy Union (UKEN). According to the group, it will give people the opportunity to play a more active role in meeting their energy needs and to be less dependent on suppliers. At the same time, however, it points to a provision in the proposal that could complicate the functioning of communities. „Specifically, this concerns the right of an electricity supplier to unilaterally change the terms of an electricity supply contract for anyone who joins electricity sharing. In practice, this may mean that an electricity supplier raises the price of supplied electricity to such an extent that it does not lose any profit. So even if people bought less electricity from their supplier thanks to membership in an energy community, they could pay a similar price for it as before sharing,“ explained UKEN lawyer Eliška Beranová. According to her, this discriminates against members of energy communities and is contrary to European law.

Jiří Koželouh, head of the energy programme at Hnutí DUHA, also drew attention to the same provision in the amendment. „The government must not give in to large energy companies and allow them to punish customers for using shared electricity by sharply increasing prices. The purpose of community energy must remain the possibility of obtaining local, clean and cheap electricity, including for those who do not have a suitable roof for photovoltaics or enough money to buy them,“ he said. Otherwise, he said, the submission of the amendment is a breakthrough moment for Czech energy. „By removing barriers to sharing, energy can partly pass into people's hands and become a matter of mutual cooperation and support rather than just business,“ he noted.