Press release 11/2023

The ruling
The Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL) confirmed EDP Produção's abuse of a dominant position, sanctioned by the AdC – Portuguese Competition Authority in September 2019.
The TRL ruling, dated September 25, confirms that the capacity restriction practiced by EDP Produção led to a "loss of productive efficiency in the market, with a significant increase in the prices of the regulation band market above the competitive price, determining that electricity consumers were doubly harmed, by bearing higher network access tariffs and retail energy prices".
The TRL was responding to the company's appeal against the ruling of the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court (TCRS), which in August 2022 had fully upheld the AdC's decision, which imposed a fine of 48 million euros on EDP Produção.
The TRL adjusted the size of the fine to the duration of the infringement, which the TCRS considered to have lasted not five years, but four years and three months. It therefore reduced the fine from 48 to 40 million euros.
This is the highest fine for abuse of a dominant position confirmed by two courts in Portugal.

The sanctioned practice
In September 2019, the AdC fined EDP Produção for abusing its dominant position in the secondary regulation band market in mainland Portugal.
The AdC's decision considered that EDP Produção manipulated its offer of the teleregulation service, limiting the supply of capacity from CMEC plants in order to offer it through market plants, so as to benefit twice, to the detriment of consumers.
Through its practice, EDP Produção was able to simultaneously obtain higher public compensation paid under the CMEC regime and benefit from higher revenues on the market through its non-CMEC plants.
It has achieved this by burdening consumers in two ways: on the one hand, the price of energy has risen as a result of the increase in the secondary regulation band; on the other hand, the portion that funds compensation under the CMEC regime has also increased.
The secondary regulation band or teleregulation is the service that ensures that, at all times, consumers receive the electricity they need, balancing the production of power stations and the consumption of families and companies.
EDP Produção is the main supplier of teleregulation in the Portuguese National Electricity System and also the main operator in terms of teleregulation capacity, which makes it indispensable for meeting demand for this service.