Germany's RWE offers to settle gas antitrust case

BRUSSELS, Belgium - RWE Gas AG, the German energy giant, is offering to end an EU antitrust probe into its marketing practices by selling off its high-pressure transmission network to anyone not involved in generating or supplying power, the European Commission said Friday.

The commission gave rivals and other interested parties a month to comment on RWE's commitment to separate its distribution and power generation arms.

It was the second such piece of good news from Germany for the EU head office in 10 days.

On Nov. 26, the European Commission closed an antitrust case against E.On AG by accepting that company's commitment to sell off its distribution network. E.On also faced an antitrust probe.

The German electricity market is worth an estimated euro50 billion ($63.1 billion) a year.

In 2006, EU antitrust chief Neelie Kroes began investigations into potentially abusive behavior by German energy companies. She has long argued that separating their distribution networks from their power generating operations is key to pushing prices down and giving consumers more choice.

RWE's commitments were published in the EU Official Journal Friday.

If there is no opposition, the EU executive will formally approve them, making them legally binding on RWE. That would end the antitrust investigation.

That probe's preliminary findings show RWE may have abused its dominant market position by refusing to carry gas from other providers.

Its high-pressure gas transmission network in Germany totals 4,000 kilometers (about 2,500 miles) and its sale would greatly improve consumer choice, said the European Commission.

On the Net

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/antitrust/cases/index/by_nr_78.html#i39_402

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