Deregulation in the Polish energy sector: simplifying regulations and tailoring them to the needs of businesses and energy consumers

On 2 July 2026, the President of Poland signed the Act of 11 June 2026 amending certain acts for the purpose of deregulating the energy sector (Journal of Laws of 2026, item 900). 

During the government legislative process, the Act was designated UDER92 and was prepared by the Ministry of Energy. It primarily amends the Energy Law, the Act on Stocks of Crude Oil, Petroleum Products and Natural Gas, the Act on Renewable Energy Sources, and the Act on the Promotion of Electricity from High-Efficiency Cogeneration. The individual provisions enter into force in stages. 

Below, we discuss selected changes.

Presentation of electricity bills

From 30 June 2027, an electricity supplier issuing an invoice to a household electricity customer will be required to provide, together with the invoice, a clear and comprehensible plain-language summary. The summary must include:

• the amount payable for trading in electricity,
• the amount payable for electricity distribution services,
• the total amount payable,
• the term of the agreement.

Electronic communications

From the same date, electronic communication will, as a rule, become the primary channel for correspondence between energy undertakings and customers. A customer may request paper correspondence. However, if an agreement was concluded before 30 June 2027 and correspondence was conducted in paper form, that method of communication will be retained, and switching to electronic communication will require the customer’s consent. The energy undertaking will inform the customer of the possibility of giving consent and provide the statutory form no later than six months after the new rules enter into force. The legislature indicates that these changes are intended to increase transparency, speed up the flow of information, reduce costs for businesses, and at the same time avoid discriminating against people subject to digital exclusion.

Installation of the metering and billing system

Some of the changes have already entered into force - as of 21 July 2026, an energy undertaking engaged in the transmission or distribution of electricity, after receiving information from an electricity trading undertaking that a sale agreement or a comprehensive agreement has been concluded, should promptly contact the customer to determine the date for installing the metering and billing system. The installation should take place no later than 21 days after receiving that information.

According to the legislature, introducing a fixed deadline should accelerate the process of onboarding new customers and may have a positive impact on competition in the retail electricity market. This solution appears significant for distribution system operators, which will have to adapt their operational procedures accordingly.

Broader information obligations in sale agreements

As of 21 July 2026, the existing list of entities subject to the information obligation concerning electricity and natural gas sale agreements has been expanded. Previously, the obligation to specify in the agreement the method of calculating economic losses associated with the early termination of a fixed-term agreement applied to household customers and micro- and small enterprises. The amendment adds a fourth category medium-sized enterprises– to this list. Consequently, the information obligation under article 4j(3b) of the Energy Law covers the entire SME segment.

Separately, a new obligation to disclose the maximum amount of compensation for the early termination of an electricity sale agreement entered into force on 21 July 2026. This obligation applies exclusively to fixed-term electricity sale agreements with a fixed-price guarantee concluded with customers covered by article 4j(3b) of the Energy Law. However, extending this information obligation to medium-sized enterprises does not mean that the statutory cap limiting costs and compensation to the amount of direct economic losses has also been extended to them. That cap continues to apply to household customers. It also applies to micro- and small enterprises with respect to electricity or gaseous fuels consumed for the purposes of their core business activities. These changes are highly significant from the perspective of energy undertakings and the SME sector. Before the amendment, the law did not require such agreements to specify the maximum amount that a customer would have to pay as compensation for early termination of the agreement. A customer could therefore enter into an agreement without knowing the financial risk it was assuming – the compensation amount could prove unexpectedly high. As a result of the amendment, such situations should no longer arise.

Energy undertakings offering electricity and gas sale agreements should review and, where necessary, update their standard contract templates. In particular, they should extend the information on how economic losses are calculated to medium-sized enterprises and, in the case of fixed-term electricity sale agreements with a fixed-price guarantee, specify the maximum amount of compensation.

Extension of the mandatory gas reserve mechanism

The changes discussed also concern the Act of 16 February 2007 on Stocks of Crude Oil, Petroleum Products and Natural Gas. The amendment, which entered into force on 21 July 2026, extends for another gas year (from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027) the possibility for energy undertakings engaged in foreign trade in natural gas and gas-importing entities to entrust the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), under an agreement, with maintaining mandatory natural gas reserves. This possibility does not apply to entities that have already entrusted another entity, under article 24b of the Act on Stocks, with maintaining all of their mandatory natural gas reserves. The deadline for submitting an application is 1 September 2026, and the agreement should be concluded by 15 September 2026.

This mechanism has been in operation since 2022 and has been successively extended for subsequent gas years. The amendment continues this practice, allowing entities to use RARS services instead of purchasing storage capacity independently and physically maintaining gas stocks.

Facilitating direct heat supplies to businesses

As of 21 July 2026, the activity of generating heat in a source from which all heat generated is supplied to a single customer or a group of customers for the purposes of industrial technological processes and for necessary purposes ancillary to those processes does not require a licence. The exemption for generation applies exclusively to sources commissioned after the above date. The transmission and distribution of heat between such a source and those customers for the stated purposes also do not require a licence, provided that the heat is not supplied to residential premises. As of the same date, the part of a licensed generator’s tariff relating to heat supplied directly, without the use of a network, to an undertaking or group of undertakings is not subject to approval by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office, provided that none of the customers is entitled or obliged to provide heat to households in residential premises and the parties agree in the sale agreement to sell and purchase heat without applying tariff prices and rates.

District heating: electric boilers and heat and cold storage facilities

One of the most significant changes for the district-heating market is the extension of the existing obligation to purchase offered heat so that it also covers heat generated in electric boilers that convert electricity from renewable energy sources into heat. The obligation covers an amount no greater than the demand of final customers connected to the relevant network. It does not apply to undertakings operating in the area of a network that is part of an energy-efficient district-heating system in the cases specified in article 7b(4)(1) or (2) of the Energy Law. The change discussed entered into force on 21 July 2026.

As of the same date, electricity from renewable energy sources may be supplied to the boiler in one of three ways: under an electricity sale agreement for electricity from a specifically identified renewable energy installation; through the national power system, taking into account the share of renewable energy sources in the preceding year; or directly from a renewable energy installation. Appropriate metering is required in each case. The contract with the renewable energy producer alone does not, therefore, imply the physical supply of energy directly to the boiler.

Moreover, as of the same date, the amendment introduces a new statutory definition of a heat or cold storage facility into the Energy Law. A heat or cold storage facility is defined as an installation enabling heat or cold to be stored in the form of thermal energy for its subsequent introduction into a district-heating or cooling network.

Practical implications of the changes

As intended by the legislature, the new provisions are designed to make matters easier for both energy companies and their customers. Bill summaries are intended to be clearer, the installation of metering and billing systems faster, and medium-sized companies will have more information about the costs of early termination of an agreement.