New rules require the technical process of changing electricity supplier to complete within 24 hours on any working day, backed by a common data exchange framework across all member states
April 16th, 2026 – Switching one’s electricity supplier in the EU has long been a consumer right in theory, but the technical process behind it, the registration of a new supplier at your metering point, the notification of all affected parties, and the transfer of billing data, has varied wildly across member states, creating friction that often makes switching slower, harder, and less transparent than it should be. A new Regulation published today sets out to fix that.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/855, adopted on 14 April 2026, establishes a common reference model for the data and process flows involved when a consumer switches electricity supplier. While it does not prescribe the specific IT systems member states must use, it defines in precise detail the roles, responsibilities, information exchanges, and procedural steps that must underpin any national switching process, setting a hard deadline as well: from the end of 2026, the technical process of registering a new supplier at a metering point must be completable within 24 hours on any working day. That obligation flows directly from Article 12(1) of the Electricity Directive (EU) 2019/944 and is now given operational content for the first time.
The reference model at the heart of the Regulation defines three layers. The first covers market organisation, who the relevant parties are, what they are called, and how to find them, including registers of active suppliers and balancing responsible parties. The second defines roles and responsibilities: the new supplier must verify the customer’s identity, identify the relevant accounting point, obtain permission to proceed, and submit a registration request to the metering point administrator. The metering point administrator (or a delegated entity where member states have arranged this) validates the request, updates the register, and notifies all affected and entitled parties. The previous supplier receives final metering data and issues a closing bill. The third layer sets out the step-by-step procedures for both the switch itself and for cancellation of a switch before it takes effect, covering 22 and 12 procedural steps respectively, each with defined information objects, producers, and receivers.
On data protection, the Regulation requires personal data processed during switching, including customer identification data, to comply with the GDPR. It also recommends that suppliers use at least two-factor authentication to verify customer identity, including through EU digital identity wallets where available, to reduce fraud and identity theft risk. Smart meters are treated as terminal equipment for the purposes of the ePrivacy Directive, adding a further compliance layer for metering point administrators.
To allow flexibility while maintaining transparency, member states may adapt the procedural sequence to their national market structures, but they must document how they have done so. ENTSO-E and the EU DSO Entity are tasked with collecting these national practice reports and publishing them in a public repository by 1 July 2027, extending the framework already established for metering data access under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1162. The core interoperability provisions of the Regulation apply from 31 December 2026.
