Regulatory institutions and procedures
the replacement (mentioned earlier) of the individual gas and electricity regulators with an Authority of at least three members appointed by the Secretary of State;
a requirement for the Authority to give reasons for key decisions and to publish and consult on its forward work programmes;
powers for the Competition Commission to veto licence modifications developed by the Authority following a reference if, in its opinion, they do not remedy or prevent the adverse effects identified by the Commission in its report on the reference and, thereafter, to make the licence modifications; and
the establishment of a single, specialist gas and electricity panel of the Competition Commission, one or more of whose members will be selected to serve on relevant reference enquiries.
6.The statutory framework for gas and electricity regulation is laid down principally by the Gas Act 1986 (as amended, inter alia, by the Gas Act 1995), and the Electricity Act 1989. The provisions set out above are given effect, in the main, through amendments to these Acts which are referred to throughout this document as, respectively, “the 1986 Act” and “the 1989 Act”.
