Electricity meters – installation not required for the entitlement to state aid
According to a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court, the entitlement to aid for renewable sources of energy arose in 2010 based on a lawful licence and the first parallel connection to the network, i.e. without an electricity meter having being installed.
This particular case involved a dispute between the producer of electricity from solar energy and the State Energy Inspection (SEI) whether the installation of an electricity meter was the pre-requisite for the entitlement to aid in 2010. According to the SEI’s opinion, an electricity meter had to be installed to consider a power-generating facility having been put into use; yet, the power-generating facility in question did not install the meter earlier than in January 2011. The producer did not agree with the SEI and appealed to the Municipal Court in Prague which, however, sided with the SEI, adding that when putting a power-generating facility into operation it is also necessary that the producer claimed the entitlement to aid for produced electricity already in the year the facility was put into use, i.e. in 2010.
In its decision on the cassation complaint of 8 March 2018, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) rejected the interpretation of the Municipal Court in Prague and the SEI, claiming that such an interpretation would in fact extend the scope of conditions that had to be met by the power-generating facility to be considered as having been put into use in 2010 by the condition that the produced electricity had been measured. The SAC stated that the supply of electricity into the electricity network via the first parallel connection is a legal unmeasured supply of electricity within the testing of the facility operations and, consequently, this delivery of electricity fulfilled the conditions for putting the facility into use in 2010.
For the reasons stated it its decision on the cassation complaint, the SAC cancelled the resolution of the Municipal Court in Prague as well as the previous decision of the SEI on imposing a penalty. The case will again be discussed by the SEI, which will have to follow the SAC’s decision in its proceedings. It can therefore be expected that the SEI will conclude that the electricity producer did not commit an administrative delict and will suspend the proceedings. The same development is expected with respect to other cases with similar factual basis relating to putting solar-power-generating facilities into use.