The Electricity Supply (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1994

Statutory Instruments

1994 No. 3021

ELECTRICITY

The Electricity Supply (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1994

Made

24th November 1994

Laid before Parliament

30th November 1994

Coming into force

1st January 1995

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 29 and 60 of the Electricity Act 1989(1), hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity Supply (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1994 and shall come into force on 1st January 1995.

Amendment of the Electricity Supply Regulations 1988

2.  The Electricity Supply Regulations 1988(2) shall be amended as follows.

3.  In regulation 3(1) (interpretation), in the definition of “British Standard Requirements”, everything after the words “BS 7671: 1992,” shall be deleted and there shall be inserted the words “as amended by Amendment No. 1, 1994 (AMD 8536) and published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1994 in London (ISBN 0 85296 839 6, 1994);”.

4.  In paragraph (1) of regulation 30 (declaration of phases, frequency and voltage at supply terminals) for the words “240 volts” there shall be substituted the words “230 volts”.

5.  For paragraph (2) of that regulation there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(2) For the purposes of this regulation, unless otherwise agreed by the consumer, the permitted variations are:

(a) a variation not exceeding one per cent above or below the declared frequency;

(b) in the case of a low voltage supply, a variation not exceeding ten per cent above or six per cent below the declared voltage at the declared frequency;

(c) in the case of a high voltage supply operating at a voltage below 132 kV, a variation not exceeding six per cent above or below the declared voltage at the declared frequency; and

(d) in the case of a high voltage supply operating at a voltage of 132 kV or above, a variation not exceeding ten per cent above or below the declared voltage at the declared frequency.”

6.  After paragraph (5) of that regulation there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(5A) For the purposes of paragraph (5), any declaration under paragraph (1) made before 1 January 1995 in respect of a low voltage supply shall have effect as if—

(a) the declared voltage, unless otherwise agreed between the supplier and the consumer, was 230 volts between the phase and neutral conductors at the supply terminals; and

(b) the permitted variation of that value, unless otherwise agreed between the supplier and the consumer, was a variation not exceeding ten per cent above or six per cent below that declared voltage at the declared frequency.”

Tim Eggar

Minister for Industry and Energy,

Department of Trade and Industry

24th November 1994

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulation 30 of the Electricity Supply Regulations 1988 (“the 1988 Regulations”) to require every supplier of low voltage electricity to consumers to supply, unless otherwise agreed between the supplier and the consumer, at 230 volts (reduced from 240 volts) between the phase and neutral conductors at the supply terminals, or at a voltage not exceeding ten per cent above (increased from six per cent) or six percent below that voltage. These amendments implement the first transitional stage for European harmonisation of nominal voltages and voltage tolerance ranges proposed in CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation) harmonisation document HD 472 S1: 1988 entitled Nominal voltages for low voltage public electricity supply systems and published in the United Kingdom by the British Standards Institution as BS 7697: 1993. The standard may be obtained from the British Standards Institution at the address below at a cost of £12.25 for members and £24.50 for non-members.

In addition, any consumer’s installation which complies with the British Standard, Requirements for Electrical Installations: BS 7671: 1992 as amended by Amendment No.1, 1994 (AMD 8536) is deemed to comply with regulation 27 of the 1988 Regulations as to safety. BS 7671: 1992 as amended may be obtained from the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL at a cost of £38 for members and £76 for non-members and from the Institution of Electrical Engineers, PO Box 96, Stevenage, Hertfordshire at a cost of £38. The 1994 amendment (AMD 8536) may be obtained from the British Standards Institution at a cost of £12 for members and £24 for non-members and from the Institution of Electrical Engineers at a cost of £12.

A compliance cost assessment has been prepared, a copy of which has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies of the assessment may be obtained free of charge by postal application to the Department of Trade and Industry Palace Street Library, Room 2.LG.4, 1 Palace Street, London SW1E 5HE.

(1)

1989 c. 29.

(2)

S.I. 1988/1057 (by virtue of paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 17 to the Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29), effective as if made under section 29 of that Act), as amended by S.I. 1990/390, 1992/2961 and 1994/533.