44.—(1) Where a designated electricity supplier fails (in whole or in part) to discharge its renewables obligation for the relevant period before the 1st September in the settlement period, the Authority must notify it of the extent of its default as soon as is reasonably practicable on or after that date.
(2) The extent of the designated electricity supplier’s default is an amount equal to the amount calculated under article 43(2) less any amount that the designated electricity supplier has actually paid to the Authority under article 43.
(3) Interest is payable on that amount (or, where all or part of it is paid to the Authority before the end of the late payment period, such part of that amount as remains unpaid) during the late payment period.
(4) That interest is to be calculated on a daily basis at 5 percentage points above the base rate charged by the Bank of England on the first day of the late payment period.
(5) Any payment made by a designated electricity supplier towards discharging its default under paragraph (2) will be applied first to any interest that is payable under paragraph (3).
(6) If, by the end of the late payment period, the designated electricity supplier has paid to the Authority under this article the amount referred to in paragraph (2) and all interest required to be paid on that amount under paragraph (3), it will be treated as having discharged its renewables obligation for the relevant period.
(7) The Authority must not, during the late payment period, impose a penalty under section 27A(1) of the Act(1) on any supplier in respect of that supplier’s failure to discharge its renewables obligation in full before the 1st September in the settlement period.
Section 27A of the Act was inserted by section 59(1) of the Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27).