The central database of the network operator Fluvius has been broken for years. The energy regulator VREG assumes that Fluvius has had enough time to solve the problems and is taking the matter to court.

VREG, the Flemish energy regulator, is taking Fluvius to court. This is reported by Het Laatste Nieuws and also confirmed by VREG’s Belga. The dispute concerns ongoing IT problems at Fluvius, which mean that thousands of households have not seen an electricity bill for months or years.

The cause lies with Atrias, a central database that Fluvius introduced in 2021. The aim of the platform was to enable the exchange of consumption data with energy suppliers. The project had been delayed for years and cost a total of around 200 million euros. Due to software errors, the database is still not working properly three years after its introduction.

The EAN numbers of more than twenty thousand Flemish households and SMEs are blocked by the software. This means that affected customers have not received an electricity bill for months or even years and will soon have to expect a hefty bill.

Patience is exhausted

VREG has run out of patience. The Energy Regulatory Authority had given Fluvius a deadline of 30 June to resolve the IT problems, but this was not done. “We see that Fluvius has not developed into a normal situation,” VREG spokeswoman Barbara Janssens told Belga and Het Laatste Nieuws. VREG is now taking legal action against Fluvius.

The consequences for Fluvius could take a number of forms, from a fine to a penalty for each day the problems persist. More clarity on this is expected early next week. Fluvius tells HLN that it has not yet been made aware of the associated legal action.