The Electricity (Applications for Licences, Modifications of an Area and Extensions and Restrictions of Licences) Regulations 2019

Made: 13th June 2019

Coming into force: 5th July 2019

The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority[^f00001], in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6A(2), (3) and (6) and 60 of the Electricity Act 1989[^f00002] makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and revocation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity (Applications for Licences, Modifications of an Area and Extensions and Restrictions of Licences) Regulations 2019 and come into force on 5th July 2019.

• (2) The Electricity (Applications for Licences, Modifications of an Area and Extensions and Restrictions of Licences) Regulations 2010[^f00003] (“the 2010 Regulations”) are revoked.

Transitional provisions

2

• (1) Where an application has been made under the 2010 Regulations but at the date upon which these Regulations come into force the application has neither been granted nor refused, the application shall be treated thereafter as having been made under these Regulations.

• (2) In relation to an application to which paragraph (1) applies, the Authority, where necessary, will require applicants to supplement their application with additional information to meet the requirements of these Regulations.

• (3) Where, in relation to an application to which paragraph (1) applies, the applicant, before the coming into force of these Regulations, published a notice of the application in accordance with the 2010 Regulations, the requirements of these Regulations as regards publication shall be taken to have been met.

Interpretation

3

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 2000 Act” means the Utilities Act 2000[^f00004];

• “the 2004 Act” means the Energy Act 2004[^f00005];

• “the Act” means the Electricity Act 1989;

• “application” means an application for a licence or for a modification of a licence under the Act and references to an application in respect of a licence shall be construed accordingly;

• “the Authority” means the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority established by section 1 of the 2000 Act;

• “distribution licence” means a licence granted or to be granted under section 6(1)(c) of the Act[^f00006];

• “domestic premises” means premises used wholly or mainly for domestic purposes;

• “extension”, in relation to a supply licence, means an extension of the licence under section 6(4) of the Act and, in relation to a distribution licence, means an extension of the licence under section 6(6) of the Act;

• “generation licence” means a licence granted or to be granted under section 6(1)(a) of the Act;

• “interconnector licence” means a licence granted or to be granted under section 6(1)(e) of the Act[^f00007];

• “modification of an area” in relation to a transmission licence, means a modification of an area of the licence under section 6(6B) of the Act[^f00008];

• “principal undertaking” means an undertaking within the meaning of section 1161 of the Companies Act 2006[^f00009];

• “related person” meansin relation to an applicant who is the principal undertaking, a parent or subsidiary undertaking of the principal undertaking or a subsidiary undertaking of the parent undertaking of the principal undertaking, in each case within the meaning of section 1162 and Schedule 7 of the Companies Act 2006, andin relation to any applicant (including such an undertaking), a connected person of the applicant within the meaning of section 286 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992[^f00010];

• “restriction”, in relation to a supply licence, means a restriction of the licence under section 6(4) of the Act and, in relation to a distribution licence, means a restriction of the licence under section 6(6) of the Act, and, in relation to a transmission licence, means a modification of an area of the licence under section 6(6B) of the Act by a restriction of the area of the licence;

• “shares”, in relation to an applicant with share capital, means allotted shares; in relation to an applicant with capital but no share capital, means rights to share in the capital of the applicant; and in relation to an applicant without share capital, means interests (i) conferring any right to share in the profits or liability to contribute to the losses of the applicant; and (ii) giving rise to an obligation to contribute to the debts or expenses of the applicant in the event of winding up;

• “signed” includes signed in a manner which would for the purposes of section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000[^f00011] be an electronic signature;

• “significant managerial responsibility or influence” means where a person plays a role in—the making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of an undertaking’s activities are to be managed or organised, orthe actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of those activities;

• “Supplier of Last Resort event” means when a direction is issued by the Authority pursuant to standard condition 8 of either a gas supply licence granted under section 7A(1) of the Gas Act 1986[^f00012] or an electricity supply licence granted under section 6(1)(d) of the Act;

• “supply licence” means a licence granted or to be granted under section 6(1)(d) of the Act;

• “transmission licence” means a licence granted or to be granted under section 6(1)(b) of the Act[^f00013]; and

• “ultimate holding company” means a holding company (within the meaning of sections 1159 and 1160 of the Companies Act 2006[^f00014]) of the applicant which is not itself a subsidiary of another company, which is in the position to control, or exercise significant influence over, a policy of the applicant by virtue of rights under contractual arrangements or rights of ownership which are held by the company or of which the company is a beneficiary.

• (2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a standard condition is a reference, —

• (a) in relation to a distribution licence, a generation licence, a supply licence or a transmission licence, to a standard condition which is determined under section 33(1) of the 2000 Act[^f00015] or section 137(1) of the 2004 Act; or

• (b) in relation to an interconnector licence, to a standard condition which is determined under section 146(1) of the 2004 Act,

subject to any modifications of the standard conditions made under Part I of the Act, the 2000 Act, or the 2004 Act, after the determination under those sections.

• (3) In these Regulations —

• (a) any reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule of these Regulations; and

• (b) any reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the regulation in which the reference occurs.

• (4) These Regulations do not apply to applications in respect of—

• (a) an “offshore transmission licence” as defined in section 64 of the Act;

• (b) an “electricity system operator licence” as defined in section 6(1)(da) of the Act;

• (c) a “smart meter communication licence” as defined in section 6(1)(f) of the Act; or

• (d) a “code manager licence” as defined in section 6(1)(g) of the Act.

Manner of Application

4

An application shall be:

• (a) made in writing, addressed to the Authority and delivered or sent by prepaid post to the Authority at its principal address or sent by electronic mail to an address specified by the Authority;

• (b) signed and dated by or on behalf of the applicant, stating, where signed on behalf of the applicant, the capacity of the signatory; and

• (c) accompanied by the prescribed fee referred to in regulation 7 of these Regulations.

Form of application

5

• (1) An application shall be made by completing in full the form shown in the Schedule.

• (2) The application may not be considered by the Authority unless it is made in accordance with this regulation 5.

• (3) The Authority may make further enquiries of the applicant about any matter connected with the application and may request additional information or documentation as set out in the form in the Schedule.

Additional information and documents to accompany application

6

• (1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3) and (4)—

• (a) an application in respect of a transmission licence shall be accompanied by the information and documents specified for that licence in the form in the Schedule;

• (b) an application in respect of a distribution licence shall be accompanied by the information and documents specified for that licence in the form in the Schedule;

• (c) an application in respect of a supply licence shall be accompanied by the information and documents specified for that licence in the form in the Schedule; and

• (d) an application in respect of an interconnector licence shall be accompanied by the information and documents specified for that licence in the form in the Schedule.

• (2) The obligation imposed by paragraph (1) shall, to the extent that information and documents are specified in the Schedule by reference to, or in relation to, a standard condition, apply—

• (a) subject to paragraph (3), in the case of an application for a licence, as if the standard condition in question were to be included and have effect in any licence granted as a result of the application; and

• (b) in the case of an application for a modification of an area, or for an extension or restriction of a licence, in relation to such of the standard conditions in question as have been included and have effect in that licence.

• (3) Where a modification to any standard condition is requested in an application made in accordance with these Regulations, the obligation imposed by paragraph (2)(a) shall be modified accordingly.

• (4) The obligation imposed by paragraph (1)(a), (b) and (c) in relation to an application for an extension or restriction of a licence shall only apply to the extent that the information and documents differ from or add to the most recent information and documents provided in relation to an application made in accordance with these Regulations or in pursuance of a condition of the applicant’s licence.

Application Fees

7

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the prescribed fee in relation to an application of the description specified in the first column of the Table in the form in the Schedule shall be the corresponding fee specified in the second column of that Table.

• (2) Where more than one fee would, but for this paragraph, be payable in respect of a particular application, the prescribed fee shall be the higher or highest such fee.

Publication of notice of application

8

• (1) The period prescribed for the purpose of section 6A(3) of the Act[^f00016] (notice of applications) is ten working days from the date the applicant is notified by the Authority that the application is duly made (“the prescribed period”).

• (2) The prescribed manner of publication for that purpose shall be either by—

• (a) requesting the Authority to place the notice on the website address of the Authority (at “www.ofgem.gov.uk” or such other website address as may be notified to the applicant by the Authority in writing); or

• (b) publishing the notice on the website address of the applicant and requesting the Authority to place a link to the applicant’s website address on the website address of the Authority (at “www.ofgem.gov.uk” or such other website address as may be notified to the applicant by the Authority in writing).

• (3) Where an application is for the restriction of a licence, the applicant shall also ensure that notice of application is published within the prescribed period in such newspapers as are calculated to ensure that the notice is circulated throughout the area to which the proposed restriction relates.

• (4) In this regulation “working day” shall have the same meaning as in section 64 of the Electricity Act 1989[^f00017].

SCHEDULE

Signed

The seal of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority here affixed is authenticated by the signature of

Mary Starks — A member of the Authority — For and by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority — 13th June 2019

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations set out the information, and other documents that are required to be submitted with applications for generation, transmission, distribution, supply and interconnector licences (and for modifications of an area of transmission licences and extensions, or restrictions of supply and distribution licences) under the Electricity Act 1989, as amended by the Utilities Act 2000 and the Energy Act 2004. They specify the form and manner of such applications. These Regulations also set out the manner in which notices of applications are to be published.

These Regulations come into force on 5th July 2019.

Regulation 1 provides for the citation, commencement and revokes the previous Regulations.

Regulation 2 makes transitional provisions for applications made but not determined before the Regulations come into force.

Regulation 3 provides for general interpretation.

Regulation 4 deals with the manner of applications.

Regulation 5 concerns the form of applications, and incorporates the Schedule that specifies their form, and the information and documents to accompany them.

Regulation 6 specifies the additional information and documents to accompany applications.

Regulation 7 specifies the fees payable in respect of applications. The fees for licence applications have increased by the following amounts:

Regulation 8 provides for the notice period and publication requirements for applications. It requires applicants to request that the notice of the application is published on the Ofgem website or to publish it on their own website. If the application is for a restriction (including a modification of an area of a transmission licence to restrict that area) the applicant must also publish the notice in local newspapers.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority was established under section 1(1) of the Utilities Act 2000 (c.27).

[^f00002]: 1989 c.29: with effect from 1 October 2001, section 30 of the Utilities Act 2000 introduced section 6A into the Electricity Act 1989

[^f00003]: SI. 2010/2154.

[^f00004]: 2000 c.27.

[^f00005]: 2004 c.20.

[^f00006]: section 6 was substituted by section 30 of the Utility Act 2000.

[^f00007]: section 6(1)(e) was inserted by section 145 of the Energy Act 2004

[^f00008]: section 6(6B) was inserted by section 136 of the Energy Act 2004.

[^f00009]: 2006 c.46.

[^f00010]: 1992 c.12

[^f00011]: 2000 c.7.

[^f00012]: 1986 c.44

[^f00013]: section 6(1)(b) was amended by section 136 of the Energy Act 2004

[^f00014]: 2006 c.46

[^f00015]: section 33(1) was amended by section 143(1) of the Energy Act 2004

[^f00016]: section 6A was inserted by section 30 of the Utilities Act 2000.

[^f00017]: 1989 c.29.

Editorial notes

[^key-93a88e2c2658759727ad0c6fc12d0132]: Reg. 1 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-66969515a84ba8cfbd2fd930362e1e30]: Reg. 2 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-ccb50bdc23bf73534303aa28659ab224]: Reg. 3 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-76268977a4297cd43cd597c97a8f008b]: Reg. 4 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-08362c83d0f086a25d8b1767ea7f143a]: Reg. 5 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-7fbae4bf2223007b3e823c76676d217d]: Reg. 6 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-e617e6a1ba11216dd69e0fa0441663ab]: Reg. 7 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-373623746f01abe8fbd34e5de21a3e89]: Reg. 8 in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-81105ee06ccb6832522b9f726009a225]: Sch. in force at 5.7.2019, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-05570551e610de1c8077c2af298e23e2]: Reg. 3(4) substituted (25.5.2024) by The Energy Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/706), regs. 1(2), 34