The Energy Community has issued a set of recommendations to Contracting Parties for facilitating the development of active consumers, or prosumers, noting that they could play an important role in the region’s energy transition if provided with the right regulatory support. The key obstacles to active consumers’ full participation in the electricity market are uneven rules and limited market access, according to a new report by the Energy Community Regulatory Board.
Although regulators across the region see active consumers as an increasingly important tool for strengthening security of supply, the report finds that regulatory frameworks must adapt if these benefits are to be fully unlocked.
In the report, the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) notes that national regulatory agencies of the Contracting Parties see the lack of available capacity in the local/distribution grid as the main challenge to electricity grids that may hinder the energy transition.
Other major challenges acknowledged by the regulators are the lack of available capacity in the transmission grid and the lack of flexibility options, according to the ECRB.
More active consumers in the market can help remove key grid challenges in the energy transition
The regulatory agencies of the Contracting Parties believe that active customers may help remove the identified obstacles, namely the lack of flexibility, and improve the efficiency of the existing grids and defer investment needs where reasonable, according to the ECRB.
The regulators clearly identify the increase in security of supply as the main positive effect of having more active customers in the market, the report notes.
Key recommendations include simpler grid connection rules and time-based pricing
To address the obstacles to the development of active consumers, the ECRB report provides concrete suggestions, including simpler grid connection procedures and better access to smart meter data. In addition, pricing should better reflect the timing of electricity demand, including through time-based tariffs and dynamic contracts, according to the ECRB.
The recommendations in the ECRB report cover several areas: grid connection and access, market entry, technical enablers, energy sharing and emerging market actors, network planning and flexibility needs, the network tariff regime, electricity prices and contracts, and customer awareness.
In a press release, the Energy Community noted that active consumers are already emerging across the region. In Albania and Serbia, the number of active or renewable self-consumers more than doubled between 2023 and 2025, while in Moldova and Ukraine it rose by over 50%.
On the regulatory side, six out of nine Energy Community Contracting Parties have already included the definition of active customers in their core electricity legislation, signaling a shift towards a more consumer-driven energy system, the Energy Community said.
