ABSTRACT
Energy Efficiency Certificates (TEE, also called white certificates) are negotiable securities that certify the achievement of energy savings in energy end-use through measures and projects to improve energy efficiency. Electricity and natural gas distributors may achieve their energy efficiency improvement targets both by implementing energy efficiency projects (and gaining TEE) and by purchasing TEE from other parties. Despite all these incentives and goals for energy utilities, investments in 2020 are decreasing. The causes of this regression are the extreme slowness of certifying procedures and the impossibility of accumulating energy efficiency investments with other public state aids. To ensure the industrial sector to achieve the objectives established by the PNIEC in terms of decreasing consumption, a global reform that is able to relaunch the mechanism would therefore be important, mostly in the post-COVID-19 crisis. The article shows the convenience for a medium-sized gas distributor, but could be applicable for energy distributors, of investing in direct projects of energy efficiency or financing these projects to achieve the goals imposed by the PAEE (Energy Efficiency Action Plan). © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.