The ACM has found that consumers with solar panels who feed more electricity into the grid than they consume may have to pay for this surplus electricity. The Dutch House of Representatives has included a ban on negative feed-in tariffs in the current bill for the Dutch Energy Act.

Energy suppliers in the Netherlands set the feed-in tariffs, and many now charge customers costs for feeding electricity into the grid. ACM will further investigate feed-in costs and tariffs, especially focusing on the impact of net negative feed-in tariffs.

ACM previously investigated the tariffs of major energy suppliers and found them not unreasonable, but feed-in costs have since increased market-wide. The authority will pay extra attention to the level of these costs in its tariff regulation.

Model contracts, which are standard contracts with variable tariffs that all energy suppliers must offer, are under scrutiny by ACM. These contracts have seen higher tariffs recently, affecting customers with and without solar panels. ACM will review the tariffs and conditions of model contracts to ensure they remain a reasonable option for consumers.

ACM will also revise existing model contracts due to the new Dutch Energy Act, considering aspects like whether suppliers should be allowed to charge feed-in costs in these contracts.