Czech energy regulator’s board down to three members, ministry wants it permanent

The board of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) has narrowed again. The originally five-member board has had only three members since the beginning of this year, as board member Ladislav Havel’s term ended late last year. The board must therefore now make decisions unanimously. The lower number of board members will apparently remain permanent, with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) now proposing a permanent reduction in the regulator’s board from five to three members. Ministry spokesperson Marek Vošahlík told ČTK.

The ERÚ board has operated with an incomplete number of members for more than a year. Petr Kusý left at the beginning of 2023, later moving to PREdistribuce. Since then, the ministry has organised selection procedures for a new member, but despite several applicants, it has not selected anyone.

Since the beginning of this year, the board has been short another member. Havel’s term expired at the end of last year. The board therefore has only three members. Its chairman is Stanislav Trávníček, whose term ends at the end of the year, while the other members are Martina Krčová and Markéta Zemanová. However, the law provides for five representatives.

According to the latest information, the ministry is apparently not seeking new board members; instead, it is planning a permanent reduction in their number. In an amendment to the Energy Act, known as LEX RES III, it proposes reducing the number of board members to three, the spokesperson said. According to him, this will bring more flexible decision-making by the board and an easier process for appointing its members.

The currently reduced number of board members has not halted the work of the ERÚ’s highest body. „Despite the lower number of members, the ERÚ Board has a quorum under the law, so the vacant positions on the ERÚ Board do not cause a problem in this respect,“ the office’s spokesperson Michal Kebort told ČTK.

However, he pointed out that under the law, all three board members must agree in the current situation for a proposal to be approved, meaning that current decisions must be de facto unanimous. „At the same time, given the lower number of board members, the agenda, which is growing due to the ongoing changes in the energy sector, is divided among fewer people,“ Kebort added.

Board members and the chairman are appointed and dismissed by the government on the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade. Individual board members are responsible for the regulator’s assigned agendas. The ERÚ’s remit includes, among other things, regulating electricity, gas and heat prices, supporting competition in energy industries, supervising energy-sector markets, and protecting the legitimate interests of customers.