Civil and Procedural Instruments of the Consumer Protection on the Retail Electricity Market—Original Polish Model

Abstract

In the article, the authors present the specificity of the Polish retail electricity market, shaped to a considerable extent by the provisions of European Union law. The main feature of this market is granting special legal protection to individual final customers (referred to by the legislator as “household customers”) who have obtained the status of consumers in the Polish legal system. The essence of the study is not only to analyze the subjective and quantitative aspects of this market, but, above all, to analyze the civil law measures protecting these electricity consumers. These aspects constitute a unique legal structure, which is a continuation of the administrative proceedings before the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (regulatory entity). The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection (hereinafter referred to as the Court of Protection) is a specialized civil court that hears appeals against decisions of the regulatory entity, the subjects of which are actions or omissions of professional participants of the retail electricity market, which infringe the collective interests of consumers (“household customers”) as individual final customer on this market.

Discount as an Example of a Guarantee Instrument in the Field of the Consumer’s Right to Energy of an Adequate Quality

“…Quality is therefore an element that completes the right to electricity, which must be protected. At the same time, the very deprivation of access to electricity should be procedurally safeguarded [5]. This is confirmed in the EU legislation that formulated the postulate of "prohibition of disconnection of electricity to vulnerable customers in critical times" (see Art.…”

“…The consumer's right to energy of an adequate quality means that it must be put in a broader perspective before it will be discussed in more detail. An analysis of EnL provisions, which implement European Community directives with respect to the electricity market, allows the identification of six basic consumer rights in the energy market [5,31].…”

“…This right boils down to deciding on whether the consumers want to sign two contracts, one with the supplier and the other with the distributor, or if they want to sign one, the so-called comprehensive contract, under which electricity will be sold and supplied. (5) The right to information. Additional information-related obligations toward household consumers rest with the supplier.…”

“…5(6e) of EnL) [11] (p. 240). Information-related obligations of an energy company are very extensive and include, among others, the obligation to inform about a planned change in the contract, about the right to switch suppliers, about the structure of the energy sold, or about the consumer's energy consumption (see more in [5]). ( 6) The consumer's right of access to energy of an adequate quality that includes the right to the following: a.…”