So'o se tasi e fia fa'agaoioia se faiga tufatufaina tapuni e tatau ona ia iloa, i lalo o le Energiewet, e le lava se fa'amaoniga moni: e mana'omia le fa'ailoaina aloaia e le ACM. A aunoa ma lena fa'ailoaina, e le pa'ū le faiga i lalo o le faiga fa'apitoa mo faiga tufatufaina tapuni, ma e ono lamatia ai le pule. E lua vaega o le fa'avae: e muamua iloa e le ACM le faiga o se faiga tufatufaina tapuni, ma mulimuli ane, pe a talosaga, e tofia ai se tagata fa'agaoioia ua filifilia e le pule. O lena fegalegaleaiga i le va o le fa'ailoaina ma le tofiaina o le ki fa'aletulafono lea i le faiga a le CDS. Na matou fa'amatalaina muamua le fa'avae lautele i la matou tusiga aotelega i feso'ota'iga tumaoti ma faiga tufatufaina tapuni.
O tulaga fa'amaonia
The ACM only recognises a system if it meets a limitative set of conditions. The system must be located within a geographically bounded industrial or commercial site, or a site with shared services. The business or production process must be technically, organisationally or functionally integrated with the system, or the system must primarily distribute to the owner and related undertakings. No more than 1,000 customers may be connected to the system, and the system may not supply household end-users, except for incidental use by a small number of household end-users with a connection to the owner. In addition, the ACM must be satisfied that the safety and reliability of the system are adequately safeguarded, and for electricity a maximum voltage level of 220 kV applies. The applicant must also own the network or have durable power of disposal over it.
O nei tulaga manaʻomia e manaʻomia ai se faila e le pipii i le vai: o se faʻamatalaga saʻo o le faiga faʻatasi ai ma se faʻafanua o tuaoi o le faiga ma le nofoaga e fesiitaʻi ai i le fesoʻotaʻiga lautele, o se aotelega o vaega uma e fesoʻotaʻi ma a latou matafaioi i luga o le nofoaga, faʻamaoniga o le tuʻufaʻatasiga faʻapitoa poʻo le faʻatinoina, ma pepa e faʻaalia ai le umiaina, poʻo le pule e lafoaʻi ai, le atinaʻe. I le faʻatinoina, o le manatu mulimuli e tatau ona gauai atu i ai: o le umiaina, resitalaina ma le faʻamatalaga moni o se fesoʻotaʻiga e le ogatusa faʻafuaseʻi ma lana faʻagaioiga, ma o eseesega i le va o tuaoi ua tusia ma le tulaga moni i luga o le nofoaga o se puna faifai pea o le tuai.
Faiga ma taimi faatulagaina
The ACM handles the application under the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet bestuursrecht) and must, in principle, decide within six months of receipt; that period can be extended once by a maximum of six months. Submission is usually followed by a phase of questions and additions, during which the ACM may suspend the decision period for as long as the file is incomplete. The decision is published, and interested parties, including connected parties and the regional network operator, may lodge an objection against it and subsequently appeal to the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven). A recognition process, including preparation, can easily take several months to more than a year. Anyone developing a site or acquiring a network would therefore do well to factor the recognition process into their planning in good time. A refusal is not the end of the road: our article on what to do when a network operator refuses a connection sets out the administrative remedies in more detail.
Le tulaga o vaega fesoʻotaʻi pe a uma ona aloaia
A maeʻa ona iloa, e lē saʻoloto le kamupani e faʻagaoioia le fesoʻotaʻiga e tusa ai ma lana lava faʻatonuga faʻakonekarate. A talosagaina, e tatau ona faia se ofo mo le fesoʻotaʻiga ma felauaiga, ma e naʻo le teena pe a le lava le gafatia o felauaiga, faʻatasi ai ma se faʻamaoniga talafeagai. E le gata i lea, e faʻatatau i matafaioi e faʻatatau i le tausiga o faʻamaumauga ma le tuʻuina atu o faʻamatalaga, ma e tatau ona i ai se faiga faʻaseā manino, faigofie ma taugofie mo vaega e fesoʻotaʻi ma se fesoʻotaʻiga laʻititi.
Nuance is important when it comes to the legal position of connected parties. Connected parties on a closed distribution system are not automatically treated on the same footing as customers on the public network, and the codes adopted under the Energy Act, including the Systeemcode elektriciteit into which the former Netcode has been absorbed, do not govern their relationship with the operator of the public network directly. That does not mean they are without rights, however: obligations that the CDS operator owes to its connected parties remain fully in force, and connected parties can lodge complaints and bring disputes before the ACM. This distinction matters for contract drafting: precisely because public law does not directly regulate everything between the public network operator and the connected party, connection, transport and usage conditions within the CDS must be carefully set out contractually. Caution is also warranted on tariffs: the ACM does not set tariffs for a CDS owner, so not every tariff rule that applies to public network operators automatically applies to a CDS.
Teuteuga ma le faaui i tua
O le iloaina e lē o se taunuuga mulimuli. O suiga i le tulaga moni e mafai ona i ai ni taunuuga: fa’alauteleina o le nofoaga, fa’ateleina o le aofa’i o vaega feso’ota’i, le taunu’u mai o tagata fa’aoga i totonu o le aiga, po’o le fesiita’iina o le feso’ota’iga i se isi vaega. I na tulaga e tatau ona toe teuteuina pe toe talosaga mo le iloaina; i le fesiita’iina o le feso’ota’iga, e lē otometi lava ona fesiita’i fa’atasi le iloaina ma ia. E mafai fo’i e le ACM ona aveese le iloaina pe afai e le o toe ausia tulaga mana’omia o le iloaina, pe afai e le o fa’agaoioia le faiga e le tagata fa’agaoioia ua tofia, pe afai e solia e le tagata fa’agaoioia ana matafaioi fa’aletulafono, pe afai fo’i na tu’uina atu fa’amatalaga sese pe le atoatoa i le talosaga lea semanu e i’u ai i se isi fa’ai’uga. O suiga i le puleaina, tuaoi o le faiga, aofa’i o vaega feso’ota’i po’o le fa’aaogaina o lea la e le na’o ni mataupu fa’atino, ae mafai fo’i ona a’afia ai le fa’avae tonu lava mo le iloaina.
Fa'afitauli mai faiga masani
A number of pitfalls recur time and again. The first is operating without recognition, in the belief that it concerns an installation or a direct line; an incorrect qualification can lead to enforcement and to disputes with connected parties years later. The second is a boundary for the system that is either too narrow or too broad, so that later expansions fall outside the recognition, or the network includes parts over which the applicant has no control. The third is being too casual about ownership of, and power of disposal over, parts of the network. The fourth is underestimating the position of connected parties: they are interested parties in the recognition decision and can, even after recognition has been granted, lodge complaints or bring disputes before the ACM. The fifth is an insufficiently developed contractual framework for connection, transport, tariffs, capacity limitations and complaint handling. A recurring question in that last category is whether a recognised system must itself take part in pulega o femalagaiga, on which the CBb has provided guidance.
Aiseā e lē o se laulau tuusaunoaga le iloaina o le CDS
CDS recognition is not a simple exemption counter for private networks, but a tightly regulated exception with its own admission criteria and ongoing maintenance obligations. A well-prepared file, clean documentation of system boundaries and ownership position, and a properly organised legal relationship with connected parties reduce not only the risk of delay at the ACM, but also of later disputes, enforcement and withdrawal. Are you preparing a recognition application, changing your site, or facing withdrawal or enforcement? The tulafono o le malosi au i Law & More guides recognition processes from the application through to any proceedings before the CBb.
