Eneco gets just €12,201 from watchdog over heat rate error
The Hague district court rejected Eneco's multi-million euro damages claim against the consumer watchdog ACM over a mistake in the 2024 maximum heat rate, awarding only administrative and staff costs.
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Illustrative photo: djedj / Pixabay Content LicenseThe Hague district court ruled on 9 September 2026 that the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) must pay energy company Eneco just €12,201 in damages. Eneco had claimed millions of euros after the ACM corrected an error in the maximum heat rate for 2024.
On 27 June 2024 the ACM took a replacement decision (herstelbesluit) on the maximum fixed charge (vastrecht) for heat. An input error had set that maximum too high. Eneco says it suffered financial damage because, had the decision been correct, it would have set higher variable rates. It holds the ACM liable and has started civil proceedings.
In an interim judgment on 8 April, the court found that Eneco had breached its duty to limit its damage. Under its contract terms and the law, it could have raised its rates from 1 September 2024. The court therefore had already rejected a large part of the €1,917,360.42 claim.
On 9 September the court rejected the remaining €2,814,373.84 claim for lost income. It ruled that Eneco had not shown sufficiently that it would have raised its variable rate had the decision been correct.
The court granted only the declaratory judgment Eneco sought and compensation for administrative and staff costs. It found it sufficiently shown that the replacement decision forced Eneco to incur staff costs.
The judgment can be appealed. Separately, Eneco has appealed to the CBb, the Board of Appeal for the Commercial Sector, against the change to the rate decision. That administrative procedure is still pending.
Source: ACM
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ACM (Autoriteit Consument & Markt)
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, the independent regulator that enforces competition law and consumer protection rules. It also regulates sectors such as energy, telecoms, transport and postal services.
CBb (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven)
The Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal is the Dutch specialised administrative court for economic and commercial disputes. It hears appeals against decisions by regulators and government bodies that affect businesses, such as decisions by the ACM (the Authority for Consumers and Markets) and energy-sector rules. It is a separate court from the ordinary civil and criminal courts, and it is the body that handles the appeal in the Eneco tariff case.