THE ENERGY REGULATORY OFFICE

The Energy Regulatory Office (‘ERO', ‘Office') was established on 1 January 2001 by Act No. 458/2000 of 28 November 2000, on the Conditions of Business and State Administration in the Energy Industries and Changes to Certain Laws (‘the Energy Act") as amended, as an administrative authority for regulation in the energy sector.

The ERO has its registered office in Jihlava, and it also has offices in Prague. The Chairman, appointed by the Government for five years, and also dismissed by the Government, manages the ERO. Since 1 September 2004 Josef Fiřt has been the ERO Chairman.

Remit of the Energy Regulatory Office:

• Support for competition
• Support for the use of renewable and secondary energy resources
• Protection of consumer interests in the areas of energy industries, in which competition is not feasible

The ERO is organised as follows: The Chairman's Division, the Regulation Section, the Licensing Department, the Strategy Department, and the ERO Bureau Department.

The Chairman's Division provides for the activities related to the management of the Office by its Chairman and those arising from the State's legal regulations (security in particular), including those related to audits, provides information, and is responsible for public relations and relations with other administrative authorities, including the Government of the Czech Republic and Parliament of the Czech Republic, and relations with other regulatory authorities and the relevant EU institutions, and also for legislative and legal issues. The Chairman's Division is organised into the Chairman's Office and Legislation and Legal Department.  (Antonín Panák heads the Legislation and Legal Department.)

The Regulation Section draws up the ERO's price decisions for the electricity, gas and heat supply industries. The section decides disputes caused by failure to execute agreements between licence holders, or licence holders and their customers, and approves the rules for the transmission system and distribution system operation in the electricity industry and the transmissions system operator's and distribution system operators' grid codes in the gas industry. The section draws up implementing regulations related to the Energy Act and the law on support for the use of renewable resources; sets the rules for the organisation of the electricity and gas markets and analyses the operation of these markets; and lays down the required quality of supplies and services in the electricity and gas industries. The Regulation Section is organised into three departments. Blahoslav Němeček heads the Regulation Section; he is also the ERO Vice-Chairman.

- The Electricity Industry Department's main responsibility is to set the charges for electricity transmission and distribution and related services, lay down and adjust the rules governing the electricity market, and specify the conditions for final customers' and generators' access to networks. It also deals with support for electricity generation from renewable and other environmentally friendly resources and prepares electricity industry statistics. It is organised into two units, Price Control and Plant and Network Regulation. Stanislav Trávníček heads the Electricity Industry Department.

- The Gas Industry Department's main responsibility is to set the charges for gas transmission and distribution and related services and to lay down and evaluate the rules governing the natural gas market. The department is organised into two units, Gas Industry Prices and Gas Industry Networks. Sylva Hondlová heads the Gas Industry Department.

- The Heat Supply Department's responsibility is mainly to put in place mandatory conditions for thermal energy pricing on the cost-plus basis, assess their application and prepare information for addressing disputes between thermal energy suppliers and customers. Stanislav Večeřa heads the Heat Supply Department.

The Licensing Department awards, changes or revokes licences, which are the basic prerequisite for carrying on business in energy industries. A licence is analogous to "the State's authorisations" that were previously issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade as "the State's approval" under Act No. 222/1994, as amended. The department also decides on the imposition of obligations to provide energy installations for generation and supplies intended to compensate for demonstrable losses suffered by licence holders performing an obligation over and beyond their licence. The department decides in proceedings under Act No. 18/2004 on the recognition of professional qualifications and other competences of citizens of EU member states and on changes to certain laws (the law on professional qualification recognition) as amended. Luděk Pražák heads the Licensing Department.

The Strategy Department provides primarily for the ERO's long-term strategic operation, mainly the development of medium-term and long-term concepts of regulation in the various energy industries in co-operation with the other ERO teams; it also monitors energy industries at the EU level and in other countries and closely cooperates with EU institutions and other regulatory authorities. The department is organised into the Analysis Unit and International Relations Unit. Martina Krčová heads the Strategy Department.

The ERO Bureau Department is responsible for the administration of a separate title of the national budget under Section 17 of the Energy Act, financial and asset management, the Office's operation, payroll, personnel and organisational issues, and IT. The department is organised into the Financial Management Unit, Facility Management Unit and IT Unit. Vladimír Kabelka heads the ERO Bureau Department.

The number of ERO employees has been set at 102.