Energy Regulatory Office Consumers’ Knowledge Regulated: Where does the electricity in the socket come from? - News

In spring 2025, together with Smartscope, a research agency, we conducted a public opinion poll titled “Bills Under Consumer’s Control”. The poll respondents were fully or partially responsible for paying household electrical bills.

The poll became the stepping stone for an awareness campaign by which we wish to gradually present and explain the intricacies of the energy market. According to the poll’s results, 88 per cent of consumers understand that an electricity bill consists of a consumption charge and an energy distribution charge, while 38 per cent do not understand the meaning of this classification.

The chain of businesses that keep the power coming to your sockets

The energy industry is a complex system of interconnected vessels, interlacing several market players whose operations are governed by various regulations. It makes all the sense to spend a moment and understand the basic functioning, organisation and financing of the energy system. This will provide a better understanding of electricity bills and optimise the home budget slated for spending on electricity consumption.

Generation

The chain starts with energy generators: these businesses include conventional power plants (operating on fossil fuels), hydroelectric power plants (powered by flowing or gravity-falling water streams), wind and photovoltaic farms (which run on renewable energy sources), and combined heat and power plants (which generate electricity along with heat for home heating).

Supply

The electricity generated by the generators is output into the grid. Power transmission grids transmit electricity over high-voltage lines (the transmission network) to supply power from power stations (the generators) to substations, where the grid voltage is reduced to a safe level for consumers. Next, the electricity is output to homes and businesses using distribution grids.

The electricity supply is first the task of the Transmission System Operator (TSO). The TSO supplies electricity at high voltage (220 kV or 400 kV) over a large distance from the generators. Think of the TSO as of a huge forwarding company that supplies goods to several transshipment locations. There is only one TSO in Poland, PSE S.A.

The TSO works with companies the task of which is to supply electricity at a lower wattage over a smaller distance than in the transmission grid. These companies are called Distribution System Operators (DSO). The DSOs take the electricity from the TSO’s grid and ‘merge’ it with the electricity from the generators (like prosumers, for example) directly connected to the DSOs’ grids. This electricity is supplied to every consumer with whom the DSOs have a power distribution contract. In tune with the comparison to freight forwarding operations, the DSOs are like local transport businesses which pick up the goods from the transshipment locations, add their own products to the outbound loads of the goods, and deliver these shipments to the specified addresses. There are five main DSOs operating in Poland, with each serving a specific region of the country (Tauron Dystrybucja, Energa-Operator, Enea Operator, PGE Dystrybucja, Stoen Operator). The DSO in the region of which we live owns your electricity meters (which you could compare to mailboxes that the postman or courier delivers your letters and parcels to).

When a consumer is connected to the grid, the electricity is supplied under a complex contract (which combines the features of an electricity sales contract and a distribution service contract) or under two separate contracts, one for electricity sales and the other for distribution services.

Figure 1. Area of operation of the five biggest distribution system operators

Sales

The electricity supply aside, be it long or short-distance, an electricity sales quote and customer services are needed and handled by resellers. The chain discussed here ends with us, electricity consumers.

There are companies in the energy market that provide both sales and distribution services.

Figure 2. Major energy market players

Learn more in The Guide to Electricity Consumer Rights.

The role of the URE where consumers meet power companies

The President of the URE (Energy Regulatory Office) monitors the balancing of interests of households and power companies. The URE, as the Energy Regulator in Poland, performs this statutory and overarching task by verifying the electricity distribution and resale tariffs produced and filed to the URE by power companies. A tariff is approved by the URE if it passes the verification process. The regulations mandatory for the energy system actors are established and cast into acts of law, regulations and strategic guidance papers by the Polish government and its parliament. The operation of the national grid (KSE) is regulated by several acts of law (which include the Energy Law, the Renewable Energy Sources Law, and the Power Market Law), along with many specific regulations.

In our informative cycle called Consumers’ Knowledge Regulated, we recommend articles about these topics:

• “Bills Under Consumer’s Control” –– latest opinion poll of energy market participants
• “Bills Under Consumer’s Control”, a Poland-wide awareness campaign by the URE (Energy Regulatory Office)
• What rights do electricity consumers have? We have compiled key information in “The Guide to Electricity Consumer Rights”
• A compendium of household electricity consumers — available on a consumer-addressed tab on the URE official website.