NIK verified effectiveness of actions taken by the Minister of Economy, President of the Energy Regulatory Office (URE) and selected power industries to secure required level of fuel reserves (coal, lignite and fuel oil). That provision is critical to ensure continuous supplies of electric and heat energy. NIK has been seriously alarmed by the way URE controlled fuel reserves.
URE did not conduct a single on-site control in power industries. It only gathered data by sending inquiries. URE explained it was the only solution because of budget savings and shortage of qualified employees. NIK findings show, though, that the President of URE could have also authorised field employees to carry out controls which would not involve additional costs. NIK points out that even the best analysis of inquiry data will not necessarily show the actual state of affairs. It is confirmed e.g. by an audit of Energa Elektrownie Ostrołęka SA (Energa Power Plant in Ostrołęka). It has been established that the company submitted to URE only preliminary data on the level of coal reserves. In 2009, the gap between the preliminary and final data was about 10 percent – in July the data were overestimated by about 11 thousand tons and in November they were underestimated by about 12 thousand tons.
Following adopted policy, the President of URE imposed fines for the lack of required fuel reserves only on the industries that voluntarily informed him of their reserve shortages. In the audited period, URE reviewed 700 producers of electric or heat energy and imposed fines on 13 entrepreneurs. Additionally, imposing fines without reliable control of reserves ended in unnecessary court disputes (e.g. dispute with Pionki Commune and in the past years with ZE Pątnów - Adamów - Konin SA and Dalkia Łódź SA).
The NIK audit has revealed that in most of the audited companies the real level of reserves complied with the norms or even exceeded them in some cases. The reserves were accumulated in a way ensuring people’s safety as well as environmental protection.
NIK has positively evaluated measures taken by the Minister of Economy concerning law changes in terms of maintenance of fuel reserves by power industries (among others the principles of releasing fuel reserves and the scope of related fines were accurately defined). However, NIK has major reservations about the fact that the Minister did not respond to improper actions of the President of URE related to the system of checking fuel reserves in power stations and power and heat plants.
Ensuring power safety is one of the key duties of the state. The Supreme Audit Office finds it justified for the Minister of Economy to exercise supervision of the way the President of URE implements an effective system for controlling fuel reserves.
