Danish Competition Appeals Tribunal rescinds decision on Elsam

The Danish Competition Appeals Tribunal has reached a verdict in the case between Elsam, electricity generator in West Denmark, and the Danish Competition Council (DCC). The case concerned Elsam's appeal against the DCC's decision of 30th November 2005 in which the DCA found Elsam to be dominant on the market for the wholesale of physical electricity in Western Denmark and to have abused this position by charging excessive prices in parts of 2003 and 2004. As a remedy, the DCC had imposed a three year price cap on Elsam, to be lifted earlier only if market conditions change to such an extent that Elsam can no longer be considered to be dominant. The Competition Appeals Tribunal has rescinded the DCC's decision in its entirety. The Appeals Tribunal stopped short of dismissing the DCC's abuse finding. However, the Appeals Tribunal lifted the price cap noting that the DCC had not analysed its impact on the market going forward carefully enough. Frontier (London) advised Elsam in this matter.