Renewable energy fee

The renewable energy fee is a charge through which electricity consumers fund the support payments made to producers.

The renewable energy fee is listed as a separate line item on the electricity bill, allowing consumers to see exactly how much is being paid to finance support for electricity produced from renewable energy sources and in a high-efficiency cogeneration mode. Value-added tax (VAT) is added to the fee.

Under the current Electricity Market Act, the transmission system operator (TSO) calculates the renewable energy fee. By 1 December each year, the TSO prepares and publishes on its website an estimate of the total cost of financing support for the following calendar year. This estimate is based on the forecasts submitted by network operators, direct line owners, electricity producers from renewable energy and high-efficiency cogeneration, and consumers connected to the transmission network.

Based on this estimate, the TSO determines the cost of financing support per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed through network services and direct lines for the following calendar year, taking into account any over- or under-collected amounts in the 12 months immediately preceding the estimate and the justified costs incurred in managing the support.

Network operators and line owners submit to the TSO the (preliminary) data on the volume of network services provided to consumers and electricity delivered via direct lines for the previous month by the fifth day of the following month. Based on these data (or, in the absence of actual data, a forecast), the TSO issues an invoice to the network operators and line owners for the cost of financing the support, which must be paid by the 14th day, regardless of whether consumers have paid the corresponding amount.

Network operators, direct line owners, and consumers connected to the transmission network submit their forecast of network service volumes for the next calendar year to the TSO annually by 1 November.