The business environment for electricity retailers is foggy and unpredictable
Nowruz Dialogue – Part IV
In the fourth part of Nowruz interviews on Irma website, we went to Iman Ghahari, CEO of Pak Pooyesh Persian Company, as one of the most experienced electricity retail companies in Iran. This company has been operating in the field of electricity retail since 1390.
Summarize the creative philosophy of electricity retail companies and how they operate.
Retailer companies, which are called retailers in Iran’s electricity industry, found meaning in the restructured system of the electricity industry after the privatization of power plants so that the private sector could provide its generated electricity directly and without intermediaries to consumers. In this structure, retail companies, as suppliers of electricity to subscribers, are responsible for collecting and selling energy in the form of a commercial contract.
Regarding the operation of these companies, I must say that the producers (power plants) mainly provide electricity to the retail companies, and the retail companies sell electricity to the final subscribers in an open space and Free trade (no government restrictions) In a competitive environment, rates become real and services improve. In this structure, retail companies, like regional distribution and electricity companies, are not the only sellers of energy and will provide other services to their customers, including energy auditing.
Unfortunately, due to the subsidy of electricity rates and the difference in rates in different consumption tariffs and, most importantly, the lack of determination of the real rate of wired services, the lack of commitment of wired companies to provide standard services due to worn infrastructure and government management, retail The real meaning is not set up and retail companies are only allowed to supply electricity to industries above 5 MW.
What is your opinion about the performance of the Iranian electricity market in 1399? Strengths and weaknesses? Challenges?
The electricity market complex of Iran Electricity Network Management Company is the most dynamic part of the electricity industry in my opinion due to its high motivation, literacy and specialized experience. Fortunately, the way the electricity market interacts and responds is very acceptable.
The electricity market group has had a brilliant record in setting up energy exchanges, bilateral contracts and cooperating with retail companies in order to remove restrictions and introduce it to the electricity industry.
The weakness of the electricity market, which is of course non-appointment, is the lack of software for allocating electricity sales in transactions outside the market, and this has led to the electricity purchased in the energy exchange and bilateral contracts in the form of two separate parts to register and apply. And electricity supply companies face challenges and restrictions in allocating purchased electricity to subscribers.
What is your opinion about bilateral agreements and transactions in the energy exchange?
The trend of these trades has been increasing in recent months and is expected to continue according to the existing rules and regulations, but I expect that some of the problems and challenges in the field of energy exchange trading that we are currently facing , Be eliminated and strengthen electricity transactions in the energy exchange.
Among the problems of this section:
A: Impossibility of reselling or returning that part of the purchased electricity that has not yet been consumed.
B: It is not possible to do the transaction online, only by the brokerage, who in case of a wrong transaction by the brokerage, he is not responsible and the supplier suffers.
A: High volume of paperwork and office bureaucracies
How do you evaluate the performance of the electricity industry in the retail sector?
Due to the dispersion of decision-making and the lack of a unified procedure and a clear vision in the electricity retail sector, unfortunately, retail companies are operating in a completely foggy and unpredictable environment, and unfortunately, this issue has seriously damaged the retail business.
The conditions for obtaining and renewing a retail license, despite the serious cooperation of its implementers, have always been challenging and costly due to the weakness of the instructions.
Tavanir Company, as one of the pillars of the electricity industry, has not mentioned any retail companies in its instructions, decrees, announcements and notifications, and in its behavior, it has practically mentioned the retail companies as one of the players in the electricity industry. Has not accepted.
The company has been less responsive to retail companies’ requests and correspondence, but inadvertently, with its approvals and announcements, has boosted the business environment of energy exchange brokerages compared to retail companies. These include:
A: He pointed to the disclosure of the list of subscribers over 5 MW to the energy exchange brokerages, while the request of retail companies to receive this list has been repeatedly opposed.
B: Assigning the exchange code to the industries and directing them to the brokerages, if the industries can buy electricity from the electricity suppliers without receiving the exchange code. This activity has been challenged for the following reasons:
A: Lack of implementation of cross-subsidy guidelines and the creation of infrastructure and related software that has practically taken retail companies out of their main path and these companies have faced serious challenges in a non-competitive environment.
B: Writing instructions on the method and sequence of steps for calculating the electricity bill of industrial subscribers is quite strict, which causes losses to the supplier or buyer.
A: Failure to determine the duties of unused and injected electricity of subscribers in the field of regional electricity and distribution companies
D: Lack of awareness of subsidiaries to
