Transition begins the disqualification of 25 electricity retailers, in addition to Holaluz

The Ministry for Ecological Transition is accelerating the screening of electricity retailers that, while appearing on the official register of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), have no activity: out of a total of 504, 130 are inactive and many others operate at a minimum. Thus, last Thursday, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published the disqualification procedure for 25 companies from being able to sell electricity. Curiously, Holaluz-Clidom did not appear on that list, as its disqualification proceedings were published separately in the BOE two days later, on Saturday. The Catalan retailer was suspended from trading this Monday on BME Growth, the stock exchange for small companies where it is listed.

Although the reasons for these proceedings are unknown, industry sources say that in the case of the 25 retailers on the list published Thursday, it is because these are companies the ministry wants to strip of their licence for lack of activity. In Holaluz's case, financial reasons related to meeting its supply commitments are cited, although the company has declined to offer explanations while it prepares its appeal. The ministry led by Sara Aagesen is also maintaining silence: "As befits an ongoing due-process procedure, there is no comment on the matter," a spokesperson said.

Those affected have a period of 10 working days to submit appeals following the BOE announcement. During that period, all of them are subject to precautionary restrictions: distributors may not process new connections or changes of retailer in their favour; their access to the CNMC's supply point databases is suspended; receipt of information on retailer changes is blocked; and their offers are ordered to be removed from the regulator's tariff comparison tool. These measures are designed to prevent them from continuing to carry out commercial activity while the situation is resolved.

The (largely unknown) companies whose disqualification proceedings were announced Thursday are the following: Atenea Energía, Atria Inversiones Energía, BG Sinergy Europa, Captura Energía, Cibeles Energía Century21, Comercializadora de Energías Renovables y de Servicios de Luz Ama y Gas Zon, Comercializadora Eléctrica Peninsular, Direct Green, Energy Index, Greensunrise Energy, Ham Power, Lucky Luz Energía, Maze Energy, Multitelec Energías Renovables, Nukik Energy, Power Pulse Iberia, RDG Comercializadora Galega de Enerxía, Société Européenne de Gestión de l'Energie, Solflix Solar, Comercializadora Europea de Energía Limpia, Sunflix Renovables, Uranoscopidae Energía VI and VII, Orus Energy Soria, Energya VM Generación, and Ignis Electricidad y Gas.

Two other subsidiaries of the energy groups to which the last two retailers belong — the first from the Villar Mir group — had already appeared on another list of 29 disqualification proceedings published by the ministry last February: Energya VM Energías Especiales and Ignis Energía. In many cases, retailers fail to deregister through negligence, but in others — industry insiders suspect — it is because remaining on the register allows them to access supply data on other companies held by the CNMC.

Cracking down on fraud

The department headed by Sara Aagesen is accelerating the disqualification of ghost energy retailers under the royal decree approved at the beginning of February, through which the Government transposed the European Union's General Regulation on Electricity Supply and Contracting. This regulation put an end, among other matters, to the possibility of signing electricity contracts or receiving advertising by telephone, except at the express request of the customer. The decree also tightened conditions for electricity retailers, which can be disqualified if they fail to purchase energy on the market within six months of the start of their activity. In addition, the Ministry for Ecological Transition now has the power to disqualify companies that fail to comply "on its own initiative" — a significant change given that until now proceedings had stalled, as they also had to go through the CNMC and the system operator, REE.

The new regulations impose as a requirement for selling electricity that the company in question must have "legal, technical and economic capacity." In order to operate, these companies must purchase energy on the production market within a maximum period of six months and carry out that activity on a continuous basis for at least a further six months. They must also provide the required guarantees and purchase the energy necessary to supply their customer portfolio.

According to industry sources, the ministry's action is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the solvency and credibility of the retail electricity market. In recent years, small retailers have proliferated, many of them with barely any activity or with financial difficulties, generating concern both among the regulator and among companies in the sector. The CNMC itself recently warned that the accumulated unpaid debts of insolvent retailers — the so-called "pirate" companies — "have caused a hole of hundreds of millions of euros in the electricity system, as well as damaging consumer confidence."

During the years of the energy crisis, between 2021 and 2023, around 80 retailers ceased their activity through closure or disqualification, as they were unable to cope with the sharp rise in energy prices. In any case, customers are always protected by regulations: in the event that their company "disappears," they are transferred to the reference retailer (COR), or regulated supplier, in their area, which supplies electricity at the Voluntary Price for Small Consumers (PVPC). There are five companies that act as CORs, and they are subsidiaries of the main energy groups: Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, TotalEnergies and Repsol.