Energy supplier in the Netherlands: when do you need an ACM licence?

To become an energy supplier in the Netherlands, you need a supply licence from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) if you supply electricity or gas to end users with a small connection: up to 3 x 80 ampere for electricity or 40 m3(n) per hour for gas (Articles 1.1 and 2.17 of the Energy Act). If you supply only to large business users, no supply licence is needed, but you still need balancing responsibility and contracts with the grid operators.

The Energy Act (Energiewet) has applied since 1 January 2026 and replaced the Electricity Act 1998 and the Gas Act. Below we explain when the licence applies, what the ACM tests, which exceptions exist and what obligations follow once you hold the licence.

What does an energy supplier do in legal terms?

A supplier sells electricity or gas to end users under a supply contract, buys or produces that energy, invoices the customer and charges and remits energy tax to the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst). Supply is legally separate from transport: the grid is run by designated grid operators such as Liander, Stedin and Enexis.

That separation determines which role you play and which permissions you need. A supplier that also wants to trade, aggregate or take on balancing responsibility enters additional regimes. Our article on business energy contracts in the Netherlands covers the customer side.

When do you need a supply licence?

Article 2.17(1) of the Energy Act prohibits supplying electricity or gas to an end user with a small connection without a licence. That covers consumers and most small business customers. The same prohibition applies to facilitating peer-to-peer trading for such customers.

Three questions decide your position:

• Who are your customers? Supply to small connections requires a licence; supply only to larger connections does not.
• What do you supply? State in your application whether you will supply electricity, gas or both.
• Over which network? Supply to small-connection customers on a recognised closed system is exempt from the licence (Article 2.17(2)(e)).

Which exceptions to the licence requirement exist?

Article 2.17(2) of the Energy Act lists the exceptions exhaustively. Without a licence, you may supply:

• as an energy community, to your own members or shareholders, if you supply no more than you feed in over a year and have no more than 500 members or shareholders (Article 2.27 of the Energy Regulation);
• as an end user with a small connection that produces electricity, if you supply no more over a year than you feed in yourself;
• to a group of end users under one agreement, where most participants are businesses, they have technical, organisational or functional ties, and small-connection participants have expressly agreed after being informed of the consequences;
• as a producer, to a subsidiary within the meaning of Article 2:24a of the Dutch Civil Code;
• to small-connection end users on a closed system;
• as a supplier established abroad, to no more than 500 small-connection customers in Dutch border areas.

Landlords and site owners who supply tenants must test their set-up against these exceptions one by one. If none fits, a licence or a partnership with a licensed supplier is needed.

What does the ACM test in a licence application?

Under Article 2.18(1) of the Energy Act, the applicant must have the necessary organisational, financial and technical qualities and sufficient expertise, and must be affiliated with an out-of-court dispute resolution body. Article 2.10 of the Energy Decree (Energiebesluit) works this out:

• sound administrative organisation with internal and external control;
• a solid financial position and a sound purchasing strategy;
• balancing responsibility of your own, or a transfer of it to a balance responsible party for at least one year;
• an independent risk manager responsible for financial risks;
• no bankruptcy or suspension of payments.

What financial evidence does the ACM require?

Article 2.29 of the Energy Regulation (Energieregeling) requires a solvency forecast, a liquidity forecast, a risk management plan and a description of internal procedures. The solvency forecast must show positive equity for three years and enough resilience against market, credit, counterparty, liquidity and operational risks. The liquidity forecast must show positive cash for the next twelve months.

The purchasing strategy must hedge the expected supply obligations for the period in which your customer prices are fixed (Article 2.30 Energy Regulation). This is where many applications stall: an optimistic growth model without hedging does not pass.

Which documents go with the application?

Article 2.32 of the Energy Regulation lists the content. Besides the information on financial position, you submit among other things a certified extract from the Commercial Register (KVK), an estimate of sales to small-connection customers for at least the first twelve months, proof of balancing responsibility or a contract with a balance responsible party, purchase and transport agreements, and recent annual accounts or an opening balance sheet.

Are directors screened?

Yes. The ACM can refuse or revoke a licence on the basis of the Public Administration (Probity Screening) Act (Wet Bibob) (Article 2.20 Energy Act). Check the background of directors and shareholders before you file, because a problem found late can delay the whole application.

How long does the process take?

The Energy Act and its regulations do not set a specific decision period for a supply licence. Under Article 4:13 of the General Administrative Law Act (Awb), the ACM must then decide within a reasonable period, which in any event has passed after eight weeks unless the ACM gives a later date (Article 4:14 Awb). If your file is incomplete, the ACM can ask you to supplement it, which suspends the period (Article 4:15 Awb).

In practice, preparation takes longer than the ACM procedure. Arranging balancing responsibility, purchase contracts, data exchange with the grid operators and customer systems often takes several months. Plan these steps in parallel with the application.

Which obligations apply once you have a licence?

A licensed supplier must offer supply to every end user with a small connection who asks for it (Article 2.22 Energy Act) and work with model contracts where required (Article 2.23). Rules on ending supply, payment arrears and the protection of vulnerable customers follow from Articles 2.43 to 2.47 of the Energy Regulation.

You must report relevant changes to the ACM within two weeks. The appointment of a director, a change of control and the end or start of a balancing-responsibility contract must be reported at least four weeks in advance (Article 2.10(4)-(5) Energy Decree).

When can the ACM revoke a licence?

The ACM can amend or revoke a licence if the supplier breaches the Energy Act or the consumer rules of Articles 6:193b-6:193j of the Dutch Civil Code, does not comply with licence conditions, gave incorrect information, or can no longer be expected to perform the licensed activity (Article 2.19 Energy Act). A revocation takes effect no later than twenty working days after the decision (Article 2.12 Energy Decree), after which customers are transferred under the security-of-supply rules.

What should you check before you apply?

• Will you supply customers with a small connection (up to 3 x 80 A or 40 m3(n)/h), or only larger users?
• Does one of the exceptions in Article 2.17(2) cover your model?
• Can you show three years of positive equity and twelve months of positive liquidity?
• Have you arranged balancing responsibility for at least one year?
• Are you affiliated with an out-of-court dispute resolution body?
• Do your directors and shareholders pass a Bibob screening?

What can we do for you with becoming an energy supplier?

Our energy lawyers guide new market entrants from business model to licence and beyond.

• We assess whether your model needs a supply licence or fits one of the exceptions.
• We prepare the licence application and check it against Article 2.32 of the Energy Regulation.
• We draft supply, purchase and balancing-responsibility agreements.
• We draft customer terms in line with the Energy Act and the consumer rules of the Civil Code.
• We represent you in discussions with the ACM and in objection and appeal proceedings before the CBb.

Summary

• Supplying electricity or gas to small connections requires an ACM licence (Article 2.17 Energy Act).
• Exceptions exist for energy communities, small producers, business groups, subsidiaries, closed systems and border-area suppliers.
• The ACM tests organisation, finances, purchasing strategy, balancing responsibility and dispute-resolution affiliation.
• No specific decision period applies; the Awb default of a reasonable period applies.
• Licensed suppliers must supply on request, report changes to the ACM and can lose their licence for breaches.

Frequently asked questions