STROOM moving ahead: bill adopted by Second Chamber of Dutch parliament

The STROOM bill is moving ahead, but we’re not there yet. Last week, the Second Chamber of the Dutch parliament again discussed this bill, which amends and merges the Electricity Act and the Gas Act. The Second Chamber discussed the costs of relocating overhead cables, the decision not to introduce a feeding-in transmission tariff, cross-participation in transmission system operators, and the offshore transmission system. Most of the debate focused on the unbundling of Delta and Eneco, although this topic had already been discussed during previous sessions. The Second Chamber proposed an amendment removing a ban in the bill that prevents grid operators from being part of a corporate group that includes companies producing, supplying or trading in energy in the Netherlands, until other European energy companies have unbundled. The Second Chamber adopted the proposal on 13 October 2015. Entry into force of the STROOM Act per 1 January 2016 is still uncertain, given the tight timeframe and the coalition not having a majority in the Dutch Senate.