Stek has successfully represented energy distribution company Liander in appeal before the Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry (CBb). The appeal was directed against a dispute resolution decision of the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in which a complaint of a party connected to the electricity grid of Liander was upheld. In that decision the ACM ruled that the number of decisions of municipalities on immovable properties of a party determine the number of regulated connections to which that party is entitled (due to the reference to the Valuation of Immovable Property Act (Woz) in the definition of ‘connection’ in the Dutch Electricity Act 1998). ACM ruled it was bound by the WOZ decisions of the municipalities, regardless of the fact that this approach could lead to results in which, e.g., the costs caused by electricity producers would be arbitrarily borne by users.
On 2 June 2020 CBb upheld the appeal of Liander and quashed the dispute resolution decision and the line of reasoning of ACM. Click here for the judgment (in Dutch).
