Too many Danes are being cheated on the electricity market, and the authorities' sanction options are currently not tough enough to deter companies from cheating. This is the opinion of Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard (M). The government is therefore proposing a number of measures that will give the authorities more options to hand out fines or quarantine electricity trading companies that do not comply with the rules.
- Unfortunately, there are bitter feelings in this industry, and it affects consumers, but it also affects honest companies. That is why we must get the cheaters out, says Lars Aagaard and adds:
- I want to give the authorities a bigger stick so that they can beat the cheaters over the head. Today, the consequences of breaking the rules are too small, it goes on to say.
A number of electricity companies have been in the spotlight of the authorities for not complying with the current rules, including several that have been reported to the police by the Consumer Ombudsman. The cases concern, for example, reporting incorrect information to the website elpris.dk, unclear conditions for termination and misleading.
In the autumn of 2024, the trade organisation Green Power Denmark warned against what the organisation calls "unscrupulous electricity companies". This involved companies that called consumers without consent and then moved them to their own company without the consumer being aware of it.
There have also been cases where electricity companies, in violation of the law, did not refund previous customers the money they were owed by the companies. The government is now proposing that Energinet should have the option of quarantining companies from the DataHub platform, which, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, is crucial for getting new customers.
In addition, the government is proposing that fines can be imposed on companies that repeatedly violate the rules and ignore any orders from the authorities. According to the ministry, it is planned that a company with earnings of 20 to 50 million. DKK - can receive a fine of up to half a million. DKK.
Lars Aagaard will monitor the area to ensure that the measures have the desired effect. If it turns out that the amount of fraud does not decrease, he is ready to increase the penalty further, it is said. The minister will now call the parties in the Danish Parliament to negotiations on the government's proposal.
The plan is for the measures to be presented as a bill in the autumn of 2025, after which they are expected to come into force from 2026.
jel /ritzau/
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