Energypoints in the REB: mission impossible?

At the request of NOVEM, the Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment, CE investigated the potential for employing the revenues of the Dutch Regulatory Energy Tax (RET) to establish and maintain an 'energy points system'. The system examined, set up in 2000 by Barataria en Traffic Test, aims to encourage households to cut back on domestic energy consumption, rewarding them accordingly. To assess whether the RET revenues can be earmarked for this purpose, the goal and nature of this tax were analysed and interviews conducted with relevant policy officials. A clear and detailed picture of the RET was thus obtained and is provided in this report; the relevant articles of legislation (as per 2000) are included as appendices. Given the criteria in force for recycling RET revenues, the study concludes that it is unlikely that these revenues may be used for establishing and maintaining the energy points system.