Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity (Connection Offer Expenses) Regulations 2018 and come into force on 6th April 2018.

(2) In these Regulations, "the Act" means the Electricity Act 1989.

Requirement to pay connection offer expenses

2.-(1) This regulation applies where on or after 6th April 2018 a person (the "applicant") gives an electricity distributor a notice under section 16A(1) of the Act (the "application") requiring the electricity distributor to offer terms for making a connection to a distribution system.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), the electricity distributor may, by giving notice in writing to the applicant, require the applicant to pay expenses relating to the application that have been reasonably incurred by the electricity distributor in doing any of the following-

(a)assessing the impacts of the connection on the distribution system;

(b)assessing the impacts of the connection on a transmission system(2);

(c)designing the connection, including, in particular-

(i)designing any reinforcement works required to add capacity to the distribution system;

(ii)designing any reinforcement works required to add capacity to a transmission system;

(iii)designing any required extension of the distribution system;

(iv)designing any required extension of a transmission system;

(d)processing the application including, but not limited to, preparing the information to be included in the notice under this paragraph and the notice given under section 16A(5) of the Act.

(3) A notice under paragraph (2) must-

(a)specify the amount to be paid by the applicant;

(b)give sufficient information to enable the applicant to understand how the amount has been determined;

(c)specify when payment must be made and how payment may be made; and

(d)include a statement of the effect of section 23 of the Act(3).

(4) The electricity distributor may not require the applicant to pay any expenses in relation to an activity referred to in paragraph (2)(a) to (d) unless before incurring those expenses, the electricity distributor has informed the applicant in writing that the applicant may be required to pay expenses of that kind.

Review

3.-(1) The Secretary of State must from time to time-

(a)carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations; and

(b)publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review.

(2) The first report must be published before 6th April 2023.

(3) Subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

(4) Section 30(4) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015(4) requires that a report published under this regulation must, in particular-

(a)set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision referred to in paragraph (1)(a);

(b)assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved;

(c)assess whether those objectives remain appropriate; and

(d)if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

(5) In this regulation, "regulatory provision" has the same meaning as in sections 28 to 32 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (see section 32 of that Act).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision for electricity distributors to charge for the cost of providing an electricity connection offer where a person ("the applicant") who requires an electricity connection to be made has given notice under section 16A(1) of the Electricity Act 1989 requiring the electricity distributor to offer terms for making the connection under section 16A(5) of that Act.

The Regulations set out the kinds of expenses which may be charged by the electricity distributor. However, expenses cannot be charged unless the distributor has informed the applicant in writing that the applicant may be required to pay expenses of that kind before the expenses are incurred.

The Regulations require the electricity distributor to give notice to the applicant of the amount to be paid by the applicant and how the amount has been determined. The notice must also include a statement of the effect of section 23 of the Electricity Act 1989, which provides for the resolution of disputes between electricity distributors and persons requiring a connection.

The requirement to pay applies whether or not the applicant subsequently accepts the electricity connection offer.

An impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.