The French electricity and gas distribution operators create the ORE Agency to smooth the energy transition through digital technology

All the French electricity and gas distribution operators are creating the ORE Agency today (Operateurs de Réseaux d’Energie, Energy Grid Operators), an association that pools digitals resources. ORE Agency federates more than 170 distribution operators towards a common goal: addressing the new digital challenges of the ecological and socially sustainable energy transition and the associated statutory requirements. For the first time, all the French electricity and gas distribution operators have joined forces to form a single agency, based at Blue Office Saint-Lazare, a shared workspace in Paris.

The setting-up of this agency in the space of only a few months attests to the total commitment of ORE Agency’s members. A commitment both to expediting the energy transition through digital services and to meeting the expectations of their clients and energy system stakeholders. The association also liaises with electricity and transmission companies to broaden its range of operations.

ORE Agency aims to facilitate the processes of electricity operators in the new markets mechanisms and those of public and private-sector operators, more particularly for accessing the date they need to manage their operations dedicated to energy efficiency, of the key challenges of the Climate Plan. This pooling of the distribution operators’ digital resources will enable them all to meet the stringent demands imposed by various legal obligations and to keep up with developments in the sector.

The initiative builds on the recommendations of the CRE (French Energy Regulatory Commission) concerning the organisation and governance of energy data as set out in its data review committee report dated June 15, 2017. An initial memorandum of understanding of the formation of this digital agency was signed by all the participants on May 19, 2017.

The energy sector is undergoing massive changes: new uses are developing, such as self-consumption and electric and gas mobility. Production of renewable, solar, wind or biomethane energy is growing. Through the ORE Agency, electricity and gas operators are asserting the key role they play in this transformation within the framework of their public service remit.