Electricity Act 1989

[F1 Customer information U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 2ZA, Sch. 2ZB inserted (10.11.2011) by The Electricity and Gas (Internal Markets) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/2704), regs. 1(1), 21(3), Sch. 2

5. (1) No later than 12 months after entering into a contract with a customer to start supplying electricity to any premises, and at intervals of not less than 12 months thereafter, a supply exemption holder must send the customer the information specified in sub-paragraph (3), (4) or (5) (whichever is applicable). U.K.

(2) But the supply exemption holder is required to specify the matters mentioned in sub-paragraphs (3)(b) and (4)(b) only so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so.

(3) If the customer is charged for its supply wholly or partly by reference to the quantity of electricity supplied and a meter records the quantity supplied to that customer separately from the quantity supplied to other customers, the information in question is—

(a) the number of that meter if it has one;

(b) the amount of electricity recorded by that meter as having been consumed by that customer in the 12 months immediately preceding the date on which the information is sent (or in the part of the period during which the supply exemption holder supplied electricity to those premises under the contract with the customer); and

(c) the total cost that the customer has been charged for that electricity.

(4) If the customer is charged for its supply wholly or partly by reference to the quantity of electricity supplied and that quantity is not recorded using a separate meter, the information in question is—

(a) the number of any meter that recorded the total electricity consumed by that customer and other customers in the 12 months immediately preceding the date on which the information is sent (or in any part of that period during which the supply exemption holder supplied electricity to those premises under the contract with the customer);

(b) the amount of electricity recorded by that meter; and

(c) an explanation as to how the proportion of electricity charged to the customer was determined.

(5) If the customer is not charged for its supply by reference to the quantity of electricity supplied, the information in question is the total cost that the customer has been charged for that electricity in the 12 months immediately preceding the date on which the information is sent.

(6) A supply exemption holder who is supplying electricity to any premises under a contract with a customer must comply with any written request by the customer to send relevant information—

(a) to the customer, or

(b) to a person who is not currently supplying electricity to the premises under a contract with the customer but has expressed an interest in doing so.

(7) In sub-paragraph (6) “relevant information” means—

(a) if information has been sent to a customer in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) in the previous 12 months, a copy of that information;

(b) in any other case, so much of the information referred to in sub-paragraph (1) as can be readily provided by the supply exemption holder.

(8) A supply exemption holder must not require a customer to pay for any costs associated with preparing or sending information to the customer, or to any other person at the customer’s request, in accordance with this paragraph.

6. (1) A supply exemption holder must, so far as is reasonably practicable to do so, inform each customer with each bill of the following matters— U.K.

(a) what sources of energy were used to generate the electricity supplied in the period covered by that bill;

(b) the proportions in which the sources of energy were used; and

(c) where further information can be found about the environmental impact of generating electricity using those sources of energy.

(2) A supply exemption holder must, at the end of any period of 12 months during which it has supplied a customer with electricity but has neither sent a bill nor provided the customer with information under this sub-paragraph, provide the customer with the information required by sub-paragraph (1) (but for this purpose sub-paragraph (1)(a) is to be read as if the reference to the period covered by the bill were to the period of 12 months mentioned in this sub-paragraph).

(3) A supply exemption holder must not require a customer to pay for any costs associated with preparing or sending information to the customer in accordance with this paragraph.

7. (1) A supply exemption holder must— U.K.

(a) with each bill inform each customer what methods of dispute resolution are available to the customer in the event of a dispute with the supply exemption holder; and

(b) with each bill inform each household customer—

(i) where the energy consumer guidance and the concise consumer guidance can be found; and

(ii) that the household customer has a right to request a copy of the concise guidance from the supply exemption holder.

(2) At the end of any period of 12 months during which a supply exemption holder has supplied a customer with electricity but has not sent a bill (nor provided the customer with information under this sub-paragraph) the supply exemption holder must inform the customer of—

(a) the matters mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a), and

(b) if the customer is a household customer, the matters mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b).

(3) A supply exemption holder must send a household customer a copy of the concise guidance within one month of receiving a request for it from or on behalf of that customer.

(4) A supply exemption holder must not require a customer to pay for any costs associated with preparing or sending information to the customer in accordance with this paragraph.

(5) In this paragraph—

(a) “the energy consumer guidance” means any guidance such as is mentioned in section 19A(1)(a) of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 which is published under that section; and

(b) “the concise guidance” means any summary such as is mentioned in section 19A(1)(b) of that Act which is so published.]