The CNMC sets the minimum content for recharging and self-consumption websites

The National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) has approved the resolution establishing the minimum mandatory content for the web platforms of electricity distribution network operators to process access files for electric vehicle charging points and self-consumption installations. The regulation is published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 284, of November 14, 2026, Sec. III, page 153837, with the official reference BOE-A-2026-23892, and is the result of the Resolution of November 3, 2026, of the Regulatory Supervision Chamber.

The framework: from Royal Decree 1183/2020 to Circular 1/2024

The resolution develops article 5.3 of Royal Decree 1183/2020, of December 29, which already required transmission and distribution network operators to have web platforms dedicated to the management of access and connection requests. Specifically, it develops article 14 of Circular 1/2024, of September 27, for charging infrastructures, and article 12 bis of Circular 1/2021, of January 20, for self-consumption installations.

The text cites as a precedent the conclusions report of the Self-Consumption Dialogue Table (INF/DE/106/24), which detected the need for consumers and their representatives to be able to track the processing and communicate with the network operator, especially in collective self-consumption. Until now, there was no standardized means of information exchange between the consumer and the distributor, except for the formats between distributors and marketers.

The processing included two public hearings: the first on December 12, 2025, before the Electricity Advisory Council, and a second on July 21, 2026, after receiving “numerous allegations” with relevant implications. The period for submitting allegations was twenty business days in each case.

Who it binds and under which principles

The scope of application covers distribution network operators and the owners of charging infrastructures, self-consumption generation installations and associated demand installations, or their representatives. It applies to three types of files:

• Those requiring access and connection permits to the network.
• Those that, without requiring them, involve new service connections, network reinforcements, or other actions by the operator on the installation.
• Those voluntarily initiated by the applicant on the platform.

The platforms must comply with ten basic principles, including simple and secure access to the private area, simultaneous access by several users to the same file, clear language and concrete messages, agility in responses, proportionality of the required documentation, technical security and operational continuity, the ability to host large files without splitting them, and data processing in accordance with data protection regulations.

Six phases and communication channels

The annex defines the phases of the file: request for access and connection permit or indication of exempt installations, execution phase information, legalization, distributor verifications, operational notifications, and an additional phase of actions prior to contracting. Each action must indicate the responsible party, the required documentation, the planned and actual date, and the applicable deadlines.

The platform will incorporate a communication channel per phase, with registered and dated requests and responses, which will remain open for at least thirty days after the closure of the file. It adds a documentary repository with all versions and invoices, accessible for three years, automatic notices for milestones, a public section for frequently asked questions, and a private section for complaints, claims, and incidents with an identification key. The final action will be the confirmation of availability from both parties to sign the third-party network access contract.

Adaptation and control deadlines

The resolution will be effective from the day following its publication, namely, November 15, 2026. Distribution network managers will have a period of ten months from that date to develop the established minimum content. The CNMC will supervise the adaptation of the platforms to these conditions within the framework of Article 7 of Law 3/2013, of June 4.

The text exhausts the administrative route and does not admit a motion for reconsideration, although it may be challenged before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional within two months. The resolution is signed by the Secretary of the Council, Miguel Bordiu García-Ovies.

The regulation standardizes for the first time the electronic relationship between installers, consumers, and distributors in two areas poised for growth: electric vehicle charging and self-consumption, including collective self-consumption. For applicants, it means traceability of deadlines and documentation; for distributors, a technological investment with a defined calendar and direct regulatory supervision.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 284, of November 14, 2026, Sec. III, page 153837 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23892).