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On the Contractual Freedom in the Determination of Conditions for Ensuring Reliability of Electrical Energy Supply to Consumers’ Power Receivers
 
PIIS231243500022486-2-1
DOI10.18572/2410-4396-2021-4-100-106
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Vladimir V. Prokhorenko 
Occupation: Deputy Director for Legal Affairs, Head of the Legal Support Department of System Operator of the Unified Energy System, JSC; Associate Professor of the Department of Civil Law of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
Affiliation:
JSC SO UES
Kutafin Moscow State Law University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameEnergy law forum
EditionIssue 4
Pages100-106
Abstract

Legal acts in the electrical energy industry set only the minimum required parameters for ensuring reliability of electrical energy supply to consumer’s power receivers. A consumer is provided with a wide range of opportunities to protect its own interests in the relations with a grid operator both by exercising the secondary rights owned by the consumer and through determination of characteristics of electrical energy supply reliability in contractual relations with a grid operator taking into account the used equipment and features of the technological process of a specific consumer. Whilst the laws determine the minimum requirements for carrying out of a complicated technological process consisting in the transmission of electrical energy to a consumer through the connected grid, the laws not only do not exclude but often stipulate pro-active behavior of subjects to the indicated relations, adding the required details to the legally established boundaries.

The limits of such activity and the degree of freedom of each of the parties in the determination of conditions of an obligation between a grid operator and a consumer differ depending on the relations establishment stage and the subject of regulation of specific contractual terms.

 

Keywordsenergy law, energy legislation, contractual regulation in the electrical energy industry
Received01.12.2021
Publication date20.12.2021
Number of characters23850
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1 In accordance with Clause 31(b) of the Rules for Undiscriminated Access to Electrical Energy Transmission Services and Rendering of Such Services approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 861 of December 27, 2004 (“RUA”), the obligations of a grid operator to ensure reliability of electrical energy supply to consumer’s power receivers being a subject of an electrical energy transmission agreement, is conditional upon the category of reliability of such power receivers. We cannot but note the imperfection of the legal writing in the use of the “category of reliability of a power receiver” term. In fact, we are not talking about reliability of a power receiver itself, rather of reliability as an energy supply characteristic. Due to that, the concepts of “category of reliability of a power receiver” and “category of reliability of energy (electrical power) supply” will be used as synonymous in this paper.
2 Considering that the reliability category is determined at the stage of the technological connection of a power receiver to electrical grids, legal publications express an opinion that this process is insufficiently detailed from the legal standpoint resulting in abuse and mistakes in the law enforcement practice. Some authors believe that any identified shortcoming in the legislative regulation of the technological connection process should be eliminated by means of filling the existing gap [1].
3 While we agree with the need for improvement of the legal regulation, we think that detailed imperative regulation of the reviewed relations is excess and is not in line with the market principles of the functioning of the electrical energy industry.
4 Parties to property relations regulated by civil law are able to determine the terms and conditions of mutual behavior based on their own will. That’s why the meaning of contractual relations in civil law lies not only in the fact that they expand objective legal provisions on the negotiating parties but also in the fact that the subjects regulate the content of mutual rights and obligations through an agreement, by reliance on legal provisions, within specific limits and based on their own will.
5 Contractual relations between an electrical energy consumer and a grid operator are not an exception. Whilst the laws determine the minimum requirements for carrying out of a complicated technological process consisting in the transmission of electrical energy to a consumer through the connected grid, the laws not only do not exclude but often stipulate pro-active behavior of subjects to the indicated relations, adding the required details to the legally established boundaries.
6 The limits of such activity and the degree of freedom of each of the parties in the determination of conditions of an obligation between a grid operator and a consumer differ depending on the relations establishment stage and the subject of regulation of specific contractual terms.
7 The choice of the category of reliability of a power receiver
8 By virtue of Clause 14(1) of the Rules for Technological Connection of Power Receivers of Electrical Energy Consumers, Electrical Energy Production Facilities and Power Grid Facilities Owned by Grid Operators and Other Persons, to Electrical Grids approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 861 of December 27, 2004 (“RTC”), power receivers of an electrical energy consumer are referred to a specific reliability category by the electrical energy consumer at the stage of the technological connection of power receivers to electrical grids (“TC”).
9 Thus, in accordance with Clause 14(1) of RTC and Clause 31(6) of RUA, an electrical energy consumer is granted a right to determine the content of the future obligation of a grid operator by its own unilateral act of will, already at the stage of the establishment of a legal relation with a grid operator, and the grid operator is bound by the consumer’s will due to the legally established public nature of a TC agreement (Paragraph 4, Clause 1, Art. 26 of the Law on the Electrical Energy Industry). Such legal connectivity stipulates that a grid operator reviews a consumer’s application as a solution that best satisfies its demands. Clause 14(1) of RTC and Clause 1.2.18 of RDE (Rules on Design of Electrical Installations approved by Order of the Ministry of Energy of Russia No. 204 of July 8, 2002) establish criteria for the consumer’s determination of the reliability category that suits its needs.
10 Power receivers can be referred to the first reliability category if it is necessary to ensure uninterrupted operations of power receivers; a break in the electrical energy supply to such receivers is allowed only for the period of automatic launch of a reserve electrical energy supply source as such break can entail a threat to the life and health of people, a threat to the security of the state, considerable financial damage. The first reliability category contains a special category of power receivers that need to operate on an uninterrupted basis for the purposes of accident-free halting of production to prevent threats to human lives, explosions and fires.

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