The Ombudsman, Soledad Becerril, gave the opening address at a conference on measures for the protection of vulnerable consumers of electrical energy, which brought together government departments and agencies, consumer organisations, electricity companies and independent experts.
The Secretary of State for Energy at the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and the Digital Agenda, Daniel Navia Simón; the coordinator of projects at the Association of Environmental Sciences, José Luis López; the director general of Retail Energy Business at Gas Natural Fenosa, Daniel López Jordá; the deputy director of Electrical Energy at the National Markets and Competition Commission Energy Department, Santiago Muñoz Gámez; and the president of the Consumer and User Council, Manuela López Besteiro, also gave addresses at the opening session.
The Ombudsman remarked that there are certain supplies –such as the right to water and to electrical energy- which have bearing on fundamental rights.
Soledad Becerril pointed out the importance of these conference sessions that enable the Office of the Ombudsman to glean the opinion of experts in this matter and come to conclusions that will lead to recommendations and suggestions for enhancing the protection of vulnerable consumers.
The Ombudsman noted that the Office has undertaken own-initiative investigations into the social rebate, electricity supply cut-offs and the definition of the term ‘vulnerable consumer’.
The Secretary of State for Energy went over Royal Decree Law, of 23 December, regulating the mechanism for financing the cost of the social rebate and other measures for protecting vulnerable consumers of electrical energy.
The representative from Gas Natural stressed the importance of defining which consumers are going to receive the allowances and of regulating a mechanism for the exchange of information between companies and government authorities.
The Deputy Director of Electrical Energy at the National Markets and Competition Commission Energy Department took a positive view of the new state regulation of the social rebate and stressed the importance of including the income criterion to single out beneficiaries of protection measures.
The president of the Consumer and User Council noted that it is essential to strive to make consumers aware and responsible, and stressed the need to define the term ‘vulnerable consumer’ and for the definition to be the same in all the self-governing regions.
The coordinator of projects at the Association for Environmental Sciences, José Luis López, gave the keynote speech at the session on “Energy poverty. The situation in Spain and measures for the protection of vulnerable consumers”.
After the keynote speech, two roundtable sessions were held. In the first, on the subject of the term ‘vulnerable consumer’, representatives from the Consumer and User Organisation (OCU, in its abbreviation in Spanish); the Spanish Confederation of Consumer and User Cooperatives; the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP); and from the private company Iberdrola, participated.
The second roundtable session revolved around measures for avoiding cutting off the supply of electricity to vulnerable consumers, and in it representatives from Gas Natural Fenosa, the Catalan Consumer Agency, the Community of Madrid Department of Industry, Energy and Mines; Alcalá de Henares City Council, and the consumer’s organization Facua Andalucía took the floor.
The First Deputy Ombudsman, Francisco Fernández Marugán, was tasked with bringing the conference to a close.
Francisco Fernández Marugán pointed out the usefulness of this meeting for boosting dialogue among all the sectors, and was confident that, with the conclusions it draws and with its recommendations, the Office of the Ombudsman will be able to contribute towards regulation adopted in the future.
