Although not investigated, there are some possible reasons for the decline of the Dutch green power market. At the start of the green power market support in 2001 the Dutch policy was based on stimulation of green power demand. At first, green power was even cheaper than grey power. But in 2003 the government replaced the tax exemption for green power end-users with a support policy for green power generators: the so-called MEP-premium. Although the change in support also drove up the green power prices, the majority of Dutch households kept on using green power. The present number of 2.4 million represents some 34% of all Dutch households.

In the last two years smaller green power suppliers have gained some share in the market from the large Dutch suppliers Eneco, Essent and Nuon: from 20 to 25%. In total the Dutch green powered households consume approximately 7.2 TWh (billion kWh) a year. That is twice the total of 3.6 TWh that German green electricity suppliers put on the voluntary market, half of which is purchased by households and half by companies.