Elsam imposed excessive pricing on the wholesale market for electricity in Western Denmark

Director General of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority Jakob Hald says:

"The Maritime and Commercial Court has confirmed that Elsam - now part of Ørsted - abused its dominant position by demanding excessive prices. This is a serious infringement of the Danish Competition Act. Consumers and businesses ultimately paid too much for electricity in 2005 and 2006."

"We’re pleased that now, nine years after the Competition Council's decision, we have the Maritime and Commercial Court's word that there was an infringement of the competition rules."

Among other things, the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court states the following in its judgment:

"On this basis, the Court finds that, in the period from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2006, Elsam was abusing its dominant position in the West Danish market for wholesale electricity to a non-negligible extent in order to achieve prices which entail an infringement of section 11 of the Danish Competition Act and article 102 of TEUF."

The Maritime and Commercial Court has ruled that, in the period from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2006, Elsam, now part ofØrsted, was abusing its dominant position to charge excessive prices for electricity in the wholesale market for the sale of physical electricity in Western Denmark.

In 2007, the Competition Council ruled that Elsam had infringed competition rules by abusing its dominant position. The Competition Council found that the company had charged excessive prices for a significant part of the period. In 2008, the Competition Appeals Tribunal upheld the part of the Competition Council's decision which has been referred to the Maritime and Commercial Court.

It is the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority assessment that the Maritime and Commercial Court's decision will not have a significant impact on today's electricity market. A number of changes in the market conditions have taken place since 2005 and 2006.