Brussels, 27 November 2025: E.DSO[i] hosted its first Policy Conference in Brussels, bringing together senior representatives from EU institutions, national regulators, industry, consumer organisations and system operators to examine how Europe can accelerate grid development and place consumers at the centre of the energy transition.
Opening the event, José Ferrari Careto, CEO of E-REDES Portugal, Vice-Chair of E.DSO, and Chair of the E.DSO Policy & Regulation Committee highlighted that Europe will not achieve its electrification and decarbonisation goals without strong and digitalised distribution grids. He stressed that DSOs face rising investment needs while competing for capital with other sectors, which makes clear that stable and long-term regulation is essential. He called for faster permitting and licensing, greater use of digital tools to speed up deployment and the recognition that affordability and investment can be reconciled. He stressed that fair remuneration for DSOs remains fundamental to attract sustained investment, underlining the need of “investment friendly regimes”.
The first panel, with a representative from the European Commission, Frank Heseler (Advisor to the Deputy DG of DG ENER), the T&D Europe Secretary General Diederik Peereboom, the CEER Representing Secretary General Alexander Linov, i-DE (Iberdrola) Head of Regulation, Álvaro Ryan Murúa, and the Head of System Integration at SolarPower Europe Catarina Augusto, explored how Europe can accelerate distribution grid development through better permitting, digitalisation and modernised investment frameworks. Fabien Roques, the moderator from Compass Lexecon, opened the session by remarking that the “historical power system was linear, now it is an ecosystem”. Europe already connects most renewable capacity at distribution level, which requires flexible connection agreements, widespread use of new technologies, and investment frameworks that reward performance and innovation.
Speakers pointed to the need for strategic alignment across the sector. Ms Augusto, stressed the importance of flexibility and digitalisation to integrate distributed generation and called for further implementation of the Electricity Market Directive. Mr Peereboom underlined that planning must bring together all actors because tomorrow’s electricity system will look nothing like that of today and grids equipment is specialised – it cannot simply be manufactured at a mass scale for all companies. Mr Ryan Murúa highlighted the need for coordinated planning between transmission and distribution, supported by transparent connection processes and adequate revenue regulation. If DSOs lack a remuneration model aligned with long-term investment needs, DSOs face obstacles in scaling digital and physical infrastructure, undermining innovation and limiting their ability to contribute fully to competitiveness. He stressed that overriding public interest could be extended to distribution projects to move forward more quickly, pointing out that “…if you want to implement flexibility, you need to address the rigidity of regulation”. Mr Linov called for a holistic approach and pointed to ongoing bottlenecks in permitting, planning and flexibility procurement.
Mr Heseler identified planning gaps, slow deployment and supply chain pressures as core bottlenecks. He noted that the upcoming Grids Package proposal will support better planning, more efficient use of existing assets and clearer approaches to permitting for both national and cross border projects. In terms of funding, he underlined that Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) will remain more focused on transmission projects and emphasized that the already-proposed next Multiannual Financial Framework will have concrete support for DSOs via other approaches.
The panel also discussed the conditions needed to support innovation. Mr Ryan Murúa underlined the value of regulatory sandboxes, and Mr Linov followed up that they are an essential part of the move to more dynamic regulation. Speakers agreed that DSOs need better access to public and EU funding, and that anticipatory investment must become standard practice. National planning should be based on solid scenarios and should integrate flexibility, digitalisation with traditional network reinforcement into a single forward-looking approach.
The second panel, moderated by David González of McKinsey, with a representative from the European Commission, Alejandro Ulzurrún (Head of the consumer unit at DG ENER), the E-Mobility Europe Secretary General Chris Heron, the Head of European Affairs at Enedis and E.DSO Board Member Rémy Garaude-Verdier, and the Senior Energy Policy Officer at BEUC, Laurens Rutten, focused on consumer empowerment. Mr Ulzurrún unveiled high-level goals of the upcoming Citizens Energy Package: consumer empowerment and protection, affordability and accessibility. He highlighted the importance of consumer trust and the worrying scale of energy poverty, affecting more than forty million Europeans. He stressed that “DSOs have a key role to play, you are the backbone of the decentralised energy system”. The package will include measures ranging from improved retail market functioning to stronger protection from disconnection and more support for local action.
Mr Heron pointed to the success of charging point deployment in Europe but highlighted long delays in grid connections, particularly for heavy duty transport. He welcomed the forthcoming guidance on connection prioritisation but noted that “a lot of what we need can be achieved by implementation”. Mr Rutten stressed the importance of predictable support schemes, ease of access and long-term clarity for consumers wishing to invest in energy efficiency or participate in new models such as energy sharing.
Energy communities were widely discussed. Mr Ulzurrún noted the uneven situation across Member States and the need to overcome barriers linked to finance, awareness and connection procedures. He stressed that cooperation between DSOs and communities is mutually beneficial. Mr Garaude-Verdier pointed to the French experience on energy communities, stating that, “the framework that we have works, with two thousand communities in France and they are organised by the DSO”. He stressed that the priority now is implementation and anticipatory investment, supported by strong data governance and widespread smart metering.
Mr Ulzurrún also clarified the link between the Grids Package and the Citizens Energy Package, mentioning that the former aims to strengthen Europe’s system wide planning and infrastructure, while the latter focuses on consumer facing rights. Speakers highlighted the importance of transparency from DSOs, with hosting capacity maps cited as a valuable tool already in place in some parts of Europe. Mr Garaude-Verdier closed the panel by noting “DSOs are not a bottleneck – Enedis alone connects a customer every 45 seconds.”
Closing the conference, Vice Chair Ferrari Careto reminded participants that DSOs are the front office of the energy transition but operate within a complex ecosystem. In this complex ecosystem, progress moves only as fast as the slowest member of the caravan. He stressed the need to speed up grid expansion, secure the human resources required for delivery and ensure that regulation provides a stable basis for unprecedented levels of investment (€730 billion 2024-2040) in Europe’s electricity distribution grids.
[i] European Distribution System Operators (E.DSO) promotes and enables customers empowerment and the increase in the use of clean energy sources through electrification, the development of smart and digital grid technologies in real-life situations, new market designs and regulation. E.DSO is an association that gathers 38 leading electricity distribution system operators (DSOs), including 2 national associations, cooperating to ensure the reliability of Europe’s electricity supply for consumers and enabling their active participation in our energy system. The majority of the EU’s electricity customers are served by E.DSO members. E.DSO and its members are committed to taking on the huge challenges associated with realising the Energy Union, built on the EU’s ambitious energy, climate, security of supply, jobs and growth objectives. This involves ensuring the reliability and security of Europe’s electricity supply to consumers while enabling them to take a more active part in our energy system. E.DSO focuses on guiding EU research, demonstration and innovation (RD&I), policy and Member State regulation to support smart grids development for a sustainable energy system.
