SUMMARIES OF SELECTED STATEMENTS G. MINISTRY OF CLIMATE, ENERGY AND BUILDING The following statement on a case concluded in 2014 has been published: 2014-41. CASE PROCESSING TIME OF APPROXIMATELY 5.5 YEARS IN CASE REGARDING PRICE CONTROL OF DISTRICT HEATING WAS UNACCEPTABLY LONG A lawyer complained to the Ombudsman about the case processing time by the Energy Regulatory Authority in a case regarding price control of district heating. The Authority expressed its regrets, and the Ombudsman agreed that the case processing time had been far too long. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, a case processing time of 5.5 years was unacceptable, and he recommended that the Authority conclude the case as a matter of priority. Furthermore, the Ombudsman agreed with the Authority in its expression of regret that the Authority had not done more to inform the parties of the reasons why the case processing dragged on and that the Authority had not reacted to the lawyer’s inquiries to a greater extent. The Ombudsman also agreed with the Authority’s expression of regret that the Authority did not inform the parties that it was not possible for the Authority to send them a case processing timetable within a framework which the Authority had itself issued. In addition, the Ombudsman found it very regrettable that in the autumn of 2013 ‒ after a case processing time of 5.5 years ‒ the Authority did not have a sufficient overview of the case to be able to give an expected timetable for the continued case processing. 125