Market monitoring

The German Act on the Establishment of a Market Transparency Unit for Wholesale Electricity and Gas Markets (MTU Electricity/Gas) laid the foundation for a comprehensive monitoring of the wholesale electricity and gas markets in Germany at the end of 2012. The MTU Electricity/Gas acts as the national market monitoring body under REMIT (Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency).

The MTU Electricity/Gas is established at the Bundesnetzagentur, with its tasks carried out jointly by the Bundesnetzagentur and the Bundeskartellamt.

The activities of the MTU Electricity/Gas focus on fair pricing in the wholesale electricity and gas markets, i.e. prices that reflect the actual market conditions on both the supply and the demand side. Insider trading, market manipulation, cartel agreements and the abuse of market power can all distort prices and are therefore prohibited by law.

By continuously monitoring trading activity in the electricity and gas markets, the MTU Electricity/Gas should be able to identify irregularities in pricing at the wholesale level. Power generation, plant use and the marketing of electricity and gas by generating companies and the marketing of electricity and gas as balancing energy are monitored likewise. Irregularities could indicate breaches of the relevant legal regulations.

The MTU Electricity/Gas also monitors the wholesale electricity and gas markets for indications of insider trading and market manipulation, as prohibited by Articles 3 and 5 of REMIT, in accordance with section 47b of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, GWB) and in its function as the national market monitoring body as referred to in Article 7(2) second paragraph of REMIT.

The MTU Electricity/Gas also monitors the electricity and gas markets for indications of competition law offences in accordance with sections 1, 19, 20, and 29 GWB and Articles 101 or 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, with the focus on the prohibition of the abuse of a dominant position.

In addition, the MTU Electricity/Gas will monitor and analyse the wholesale energy markets to detect possible breaches of the Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz, WpHG) or Stock Exchange Act (Börsengesetz, BörsG).

The MTU Electricity/Gas itself is not responsible for investigating and prosecuting these cases. Rather, it acts as a 'notifying body' by referring any irregularities or suspicions to the enforcement authorities responsible. Suspected offences are pursued by the following authorities:

• REMIT: Bundesnetzagentur;
• Competition law: Bundeskartellamt;
• WpHG: Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin);
• BörsG: Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport (SMWA).

Data collection

To perform its tasks, the MTU Electricity/Gas will collect trade data relating to wholesale electricity and gas trading and fundamental data relating to the electricity and gas industries. The majority of this data is collected EU-wide by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and passed on to the MTU Electricity/Gas. Any additional data needed will be collected by the MTU Electricity/Gas itself.