The Electricity (Connection Charges) Regulations 1990

• Citation: S.I. 1990/527
• Sections: 8

Section 1 Citation and commencement

These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity (Connection Charges) Regulations 1990 and shall come into force on 31st March 1990.

Section 2 Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations–

“administrative expenses” means the expenses reasonably incurred by a public electricity supplier in discharging his obligations under these Regulations;

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

“eligible person” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 3;

“initial contributor” means a person–

for the purpose of supplying whom any electric line or electrical plant was first provided; and

who made a payment in respect of the relevant expenses;

“prescribed period” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 4;

“relevant expenses” means any expenses reasonably incurred by a public electricity supplier in first providing any electric line or electrical plant which is subsequently used for the purpose of giving a supply to any person other than the initial contributor, and the reference in the foregoing to any expenses reasonably incurred in providing any line or plant includes a reference to the capitalised value of any expenses likely to be so incurred in maintaining it (in so far as they will not be recoverable by the supplier as a part of the charges made by him for the supply to the initial contributor);

“relevant time” means the time at which is made a requirement for a supply of electricity under section 16(1) compliance with which involves the use of any electric line or electrical plant which has already been provided for the purpose of giving a supply in pursuance of section 16(1).

(2) In these Regulations–

(a) any reference to a numbered section is a reference to the section bearing that number in the Electricity Act 1989;

(b) any reference to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations; and

(c) except where otherwise provided, any reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the regulation in which the reference occurs.

Section 3 Meaning of “eligible person”

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), in these Regulations “eligible person” means any person who at the relevant time owns or occupies the relevant premises and is–

(a) an initial contributor;

(b) a person who has been required to make a contribution to a public electricity supplier in accordance with these Regulations; or

(c) a person to whom any right to receive a payment under these Regulations has been legally assigned.

(2) In paragraph (1) “relevant premises” means the premises occupied by a person at the time when he became either–

(a) an initial contributor; or

(b) a person required to make a contribution to a public electricity supplier in accordance with these Regulations,

in respect of those premises.

Section 4 Prescribed period

The prescribed period for the purposes of these Regulations is five years (after the provision of any electric line or electrical plant for the purpose of supplying an initial contributor).

Section 5 Entitlement to recover amount in respect of expenses

(1) Subject to regulation 6, a public electricity supplier may require a person requiring a supply of electricity under section 16(1) at any time after the coming into force of these Regulations to pay to the supplier such an amount in respect of the supplier’s relevant expenses as may be reasonable in all the circumstances if–

(a) the supply is required within the prescribed period after the first provision of any electric line or electrical plant used for the purpose of giving the supply;

(b) an initial contributor has made a payment to the supplier in respect of the relevant expenses;

(c) the supplier has not recovered the relevant expenses in full; and

(d) the supplier has made available to the person requesting the supply such information (if any) as may have been reasonably requested by that person for the purpose of ascertaining–

(i) the amount of the relevant expenses;

(ii) the date of the first provision of the line or plant; and

(iii) the amounts paid in respect of the relevant expenses by the initial contributor or by persons previously required to make a payment under these Regulations.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply in relation to any electric line or electrical plant first provided before the coming into force of these Regulations as if for sub-paragraph (d)(iii) there were substituted the following sub-paragraph–

(iii) the amounts paid by all persons to the supplier in respect of the relevant expenses.

Section 6 Obligation to recover amount in respect of expenses

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), a public electricity supplier shall exercise his rights under regulation 5 if within the prescribed period–

(a) any electric line or electrical plant first provided at any time after the coming into force of these Regulations for the purpose of giving a supply to domestic premises under section 16(1) is subsequently used for the purpose of giving a further supply under that section; and

(b) the relevant expenses have been wholly or mainly defrayed by the initial contributor or by that contributor and any other person previously required to make a payment under these Regulations.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the public electricity supplier shall exercise his rights under regulation 5 in the manner which he considers is best calculated to secure the recovery of an amount which is not more than the proportion of the relevant expenses which is appropriate having regard to the maximum power required by the person requiring the further supply.

(3) Where the public electricity supplier exercises his rights under regulation 5 in discharge of the obligation imposed on him by this regulation, regulation 5 shall be read and construed as if sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (1) thereof had been omitted.

(4) The obligation imposed by this regulation shall not apply in any case where–

(a) the amount which would be applied in making payments to eligible persons in accordance with regulation 7, after deduction in accordance with that regulation of the administrative expenses of the public electricity supplier, is in-sufficient to provide a payment of £200 or more to at least one eligible person; or

(b) at the relevant time there are no eligible persons.

Section 7 Payments to eligible persons

(1) Where a public electricity supplier has in discharge of the obligation imposed on him by regulation 6 recovered an amount, that amount shall, subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), be applied in making payments to eligible persons.

(2) The public electricity supplier may deduct his administrative expenses from the amount mentioned in paragraph (1) before he makes any payment to eligible persons.

(3) Where payments fall to be made to two or more eligible persons in respect of the same relevant expenses in accordance with paragraph (1), each of those payments shall bear the same proportion to the aggregate of those payments as each payment made by or in relation to an eligible person to whom a payment is to be made in accordance with this regulation bears to the aggregate of the payments made by or in respect of those eligible persons.

(4) The public electricity supplier shall not be required by this regulation to make a payment to an eligible person if the amount of that payment would, but for this paragraph, be less than £200.

(5) Payments to eligible persons in accordance with this regulation shall be made as soon as practicable after the public electricity supplier has recovered the amount out of which those payments are to be made.

Section 8 Provision of information to eligible persons

Whenever a public electricity supplier intends to use any electric line or electrical plant for the purpose of giving a further supply in any circumstances where regulation 6 applies, he shall inform any eligible persons of that fact and shall also give them the following information–

(a) the amount which the supplier calculates would be recoverable in accordance with that regulation; and

(b) the estimated amount of his administrative expenses.