Table 8. Information available to retail consumers in the electricity market 27
Table 9. Categories of consumers allowed to choose their natural gas retail supplier 27
Table 10. Natural gas retail price regulation 28
Table 11. Information on prices available to residential and small commercial consumers in the natural gas market 28
Table 12. Demand response schemes in the surveyed countries 31
Table 13. Regulation of hydrogen blending in the surveyed countries 33
Figures 6
Figure 1. The PMR Sector Indicator for Energy: results for 2023-2025 10
Figure 2. The ETCR indicators over time, OECD average 12
Figure 3. The indirect impact of energy sectors on the economy 15
Figure 4. Structure of the two energy sectors 16
Figure 5. Opening the Energy sector to competition 17
Figure 6. Reforms captured by the PMR indicator in the electricity sector since 2018 35
Figure 7. Reforms captured by the PMR indicator in the natural gas sector since 2018 36
Boxes 10
Box 1. The Product Market Regulation (PMR) indicator 10
Box 2. The Energy, Transport and Communications Regulation (ETCR) indicator 11
Box 3. Does retail electricity competition benefit households and small businesses? 14
Box 4. The 2024 South Africa Electricity Regulation Amendment Act 20
Box 5. The effects of protected electricity tariffs on competition outcomes 25
Box 6. Examples of electricity retailers enabling consumer-side flexibility 32
Appendix Tables 7
Table A.1. Representative states in the federal countries surveyed 46
Table A.2. More details on the legal restrictions on the number of operators across the electricity supply chain 46
Table A.3. Electricity: More details on the legal requirements for vertical separation of transmission and distribution from generation and retail supply 47
Table A.4. More details on the legal restrictions on the number of operators across the natural gas supply chain 48
Table A.5. Natural gas: More details on the legal requirements for vertical separation of transmission and distribution from generation and retail supply 49
Table A.6. More details on the categories of consumers allowed to choose their electricity retail supplier 50
Table A.7. More details on the regulation of electricity retail prices where competition has been introduced 50
Table A.8. More details on the estimated smart metering penetration rates 51
Table A.9. More on details on retail electricity price information available to consumers 51
Table A.10. More details on the categories of consumers allowed to choose their natural gas retail supplier 51
Table A.11. More details on natural gas retail price regulation 52
Table A.12. More on details on retail natural gas price information available to residential and small commercial consumers 52
Table A.13. More details on demand response schemes in the surveyed countries 53
Table A.14. More details on the regulation of hydrogen blending in the surveyed countries 53
Appendix Figures 6
Figure A.1. Comparison of the PMR sector indicator on electricity in 2018 and 2023-25 54
Figure A.2. Comparison of the PMR sector indicator on natural gas in 2018 and 2023-25 54