Title: Consumer protection: a licensing or seal-of-approval system? The case of Dutch small consumers of electricity

Authors: E.F. Ten Heuvelhof, Helen D. Stout

Addresses: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: In order to implement the EU Electricity Directive (96/92), The Netherlands completely opened its electricity market last 1 July 2004. From then on, small consumers became free to select the supplier of their choice. The question this article examines is whether a licensing system best reflects the special nature of the electricity industry, given the institutional transformation it has undergone and is still undergoing. The authors argue that a seal-of-approval system would reflect it better.

Keywords: Electricity Directive; licensing system; seal of approval; market forces; EU Directive 96/92; consumer protection; Holland; The Netherlands; small consumers; electricity industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2005.008404

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2005 Vol.5 No.3, pp.215 - 226

Published online: 19 Dec 2005 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article