The Danish Appeals Permission Board denies appeal of judgment in electricity price case

Danish Appeals Permission Board’s decision of 25 October 2018 refusing appeal of Western High Court decision of 24 May 2018 in V.L. B-1828-16 – Ørsted A/S vs. the Danish Competition Council 

By assistant attorney Christina Karstensen 

The case began in 2006, when the Competition Council held that Elsam had been abusing its dominant position in the electricity wholesale market in Western Denmark in the period from 2005 January 31 to 2006 December 2006. 

Elsam appealed the decision to the Competition Appeals Tribunal, which:

• repealed and remitted for reconsideration that part of the decision which concerned the second half of 2006
• affirmed that part of the decision which concerned the period from 1 January 2005 to 30 January 2006. 

Elsam then brought the case before the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court, which on 30 August 2016 upheld the decision by the Competition Appeals Tribunal. 

With both the Competition Council, the Competition Appeals Tribunal and the Maritime and Commercial High Court having ruled against Elsam for charging excessive prices in Western Denmark in 2005-2006, Elsam then brought the Maritime and Commercial High Court decision before the Western High Court, which rendered its judgment on 24 May 2018.   

In it, the High Court stated, among other things, that it had not been proven to the requisite degree of certainty that Elsam had in fact abused its dominant position to charge excessive prices. Consequently, the Competition Council's decision was repealed. 

For details on the case, please refer to our previous news article: Danish Western High Court rules in favour of Ørsted in electricity price case.

Now that the Appeals Permission Board has turned down the Competition and Consumer Authority’s petition to bring the Western High Court judgment before the Supreme Court, the High Court’s decision is final.