S.I. No. 319/2026 - European Union (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2026

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 10th July, 2026.

I, DARRAGH O’BRIEN, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving further effect to Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019¹ , as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1711 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024² , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1.

Amendment of Electricity Act 1999

2.

• (a) in section 2(1), by inserting the following definitions:

“‘flexible connection agreement’ means a set of agreed conditions for connecting electrical capacity to the grid that includes conditions to limit and control the electricity injection to and withdrawal from the transmission network or distribution network;

‘final customer’ means a customer who purchases electricity for own use;

‘distribution’ means the transport of electricity on high-voltage, medium-voltage and low-voltage distribution systems with a view to it delivery to customers, but does not include supply;

‘distribution system operator’ means a person who is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing the distribution system in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other systems, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the distribution of electricity;

‘supplier of last resort’ means a supplier who is designated by the Commission to take over the supply of electricity to customers of another supplier;

‘system user’ means a person who supplies to, or is supplied by, a transmission system or a distribution system;”,

• (b) in section 9(1) (as amended by Regulation 7 of ( S.I. No. 704 of 2020 )) by substituting—

• (i) in paragraph (da), for subparagraph (xiii) the following:

• “(xiii) monitoring the removal of unjustified obstacles to and restrictions on the development of consumption of self-generated electricity, energy sharing, renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities, including obstacles and restrictions preventing the connection of flexible distributed energy generation within a reasonable time in accordance with section 9 (4) (b),”,

and

• (ii) for paragraph (la) the following;

• “(la) in close cooperation with the other regulatory authorities, to ensure the compliance of the single allocation platform established in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1719, ENTSO for Electricity and the EU DSO entity with their obligations under the 2019 Internal Electricity Market Directive, the 2019 Internal Electricity Market Regulation, the network codes and guidelines adopted pursuant to Articles 59, 60 and 61 of the 2019 Internal Electricity Market Regulation, and other relevant law of the European Union, including as regards cross-border issues, as well as with the Agency’s decisions, and jointly identify any failure of the ENTSO for Electricity and the EU DSO entity to comply with their respective obligations,”,

• (c) in section 9(5)—

• (i) by deleting “and” after paragraph (e),

• (ii) in paragraph (f) (inserted by Regulation 3(d)(iii) of S.I. No. 60 of 2005 ) by substituting “transparent prices, and” for “transparent prices.”, and

• (iii) by inserting after paragraph (f) the following:

• “(g) to ensure that final customers who are transferred to the supplier of last resort shall continue to benefit from all of their rights as customers as laid down in this Act;

• (h) to ensure that the supplier of last resort communicate their terms and conditions to transferred customers without delay and ensure a continuity of service for those customers for a period needed to change to a new supplier;

• (i) to ensure that final customers are provided with information and encouragement to switch to a market-based offer;

• (j) to ensure that suppliers do not terminate contracts and do not disconnect customers on the grounds on which customers have submitted a complaint in accordance with a customer charter under Regulation 5(6) of the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity And Gas) (Consumer Protection) Regulations ( S.I. No. 463 of 2011 ) or which are subject to an out-of-court dispute settlement mechanism in accordance with Regulation 7 of those Regulations; and to take measures it deems appropriate to avoid an abuse of process in relation to this provision.”

• (d) in section 28A(1) (inserted by section 42 (c) of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 ) by substituting for the definition of “active customer” the following:

“ ‘active customer’ means a final customer, or a group of jointly acting final customers, who consumes or stores electricity generated within its premises located within confined boundaries or self-generated or shared electricity within other premises, or who sells self-generated electricity or participates in flexibility or energy efficiency schemes, provided that those activities do not constitute its primary commercial or professional activity;”,

and

• (e) by inserting after section 34B the following:

“Flexible connection agreements

34C (1) The Commission shall develop a framework for the transmission system operator and distribution system operator to offer the possibility of establishing flexible connection agreements in areas where there is limited or no network capacity availability for new connections in accordance with Articles 31(3) and 50(4a) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943³ .

• (2) The framework referred to in paragraph (1) shall ensure that:

  • (a) there are established criteria to ensure that flexible connections do not delay the network reinforcements in the identified areas;

  • (b) there are established criteria to ensure a conversion from flexible to firm connection agreements once the network is developed that are ensured on the basis of established criteria; and

  • (c) for areas where the Commission deems network development not to be the most efficient solution, flexible connection agreements as a permanent solution, where relevant, are enabled, including for energy storage.

• (3) The framework referred to in paragraph (1) may ensure that flexible connection agreements specify at least the following:

  • (a) the maximum firm injection and withdrawal of electricity from and to the grid, as well as the additional flexible injection and withdrawal capacity that can be connected and differentiated by time blocks throughout the year;

  • (b) the network charges applicable to both the firm and flexible injection and withdrawal capacities; and

  • (c) the agreed duration of the flexible connection agreement and the expected date for granting connection to the entire requested firm capacity.

• (4) The system user connecting through a flexible grid connection shall be required to install a power control system that is certified by an authorised certifier.”.

Amendment of S.I. No. 445 of 2000

3.

• (a) in Regulation 22(2) (as amended by Regulation 10(c)(iii) of ( S.I. No. 60 of 2005 )), by substituting for subparagraph (h) the following:

• “(h) provide system users with the information they need for efficient access to, and use of, the distribution system, in particular:

• (i) shall publish in a transparent manner clear information on the capacity available for new connections in their area of operation with high spatial granularity, respecting public security and data confidentiality, including the capacity under connection request and the possibility of flexible connection in congested areas, including information on the criteria for the calculation of the available capacity for new connections,

  • (ii) shall update that information on a regular basis, at least quarterly, and

  • (iii) shall provide in a transparent manner clear information to system users about the status and treatment of their connection requests. They shall provide such information within 3 months of the submission of the request. Where the requested connection is neither granted nor permanently rejected, they shall update that information on a regular basis, at least quarterly,

  • (i) ensure all household customers and small enterprises enjoy universal service, as respects quality, in accordance with the level of quality of electricity specified under Regulation 26 of the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 60 of 2005 ),

• (j) comply with any arrangements specified by the Commission to enable customers switch to a new supplier, and

• (k) provide system users the option to request grid connection, and to submit relative documents exclusively in digital form.”,

and

• (b) in Regulation 23, by substituting for paragraph (1) (inserted by Regulation 11 of ( S.I. No. 60 of 2005 )) the following:

“23. (1) A distribution system operator shall not discriminate between users or classes of users, including renewable energy communities or citizen energy communities, particularly in favour of its related undertakings.”.

Amendment of S.I. No. 365 of 2020

4.

“This paragraph does not apply to support for electricity from the sources listed in Article 19d(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943³ , to which Article 19d(1) of that Regulation applies.”.

Amendment of S.I. No. 20 of 2022

5.

• (a) in Regulation 2(1), after the definition of “final customer”, by inserting the following definition:

“‘fixed-term, fixed-price electricity supply contract’ means an electricity supply contract between a supplier and a final customer that guarantees that the contractual terms and conditions, including the price, remain unchanged for the duration of the contract, while it may, within a fixed price, include a flexible element with for example peak and off-peak price variations, and where changes in the resulting bill and where changes in the resulting bill can only result from elements determined by Government, such as taxes and levies;”

• (b) in Regulation 15, by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

• “(2) The Commission shall, taking into account the size of the supplier or the market structure and, if the Commission considers it is proportionate to carry out stress tests, ensure that suppliers:

  • (a) have in place and implement appropriate hedging strategies, to limit the risk of changes in wholesale electricity supply prices to the economic viability of their contracts with customers, while maintaining liquidity on and price signals from short-term markets;

  • (b) take all steps the supplier deems reasonable to limit their risk of supply failure.

• (3) The Commission shall endeavour to ensure the accessibility of hedging products for citizen energy communities and renewable energy communities and to put in place enabling conditions for that purpose.”,

and

• (c) in Regulation 20, by substituting for paragraph (1) the following:

“20. (1) The Commission shall ensure the facilitation by the distribution system operator of publicly accessible and private recharging points with smart charging functionalities and bidirectional charging functionalities to the distribution networks.”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

3 July 2026.

DARRAGH O’BRIEN,

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations give effect to Directive (EU) 2024/1711 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024.

Footnotes