The Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015

General interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“additional standard payment” has the meaning given in regulation 8(3);

“customer” means, except where otherwise provided for in these Regulations, domestic customer;

“distributed payment” has the meaning given in regulation 7(2);

“domestic customer” means a natural person supplied or requiring to be supplied with gas or electricity at domestic premises (but excluding such person insofar as they are supplied or require to be supplied with gas or electricity at premises other than domestic premises);

“domestic premises” means premises at which a supply of gas or electricity is taken or to be taken wholly or mainly for domestic purposes;

“Electricity Act” means the Electricity Act 1989(1);

“electricity meter” means a meter which conforms to the requirements of paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 to the Electricity Act;

“Gas Act” means the Gas Act 1986(2);

“gas meter” means a meter which conforms to the requirements of section 17(1)(3) of the Gas Act;

“individual standard of performance” means one of the standards of performance a supplier is required to meet under regulations 3 to 6;

“make a payment” includes crediting the account of a customer for charges incurred or to be incurred in respect of the supply of gas or electricity;

“meter” means a gas meter or an electricity meter;

“micro-business customer” means a customer (other than a domestic customer), which is a “relevant consumer” (in respect of premises other than domestic premises) for the purposes of article 2(1) of the Gas and Electricity Regulated Providers (Redress Scheme) Order 2008(4);

“standard payment” has the meaning given in regulation 8(2);

“supplier” means a gas supplier or an electricity supplier;

“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day that is a bank holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(5); and

“working hours” means the period between 8am and 8pm on a working day and between 9am and 5pm on any other day.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations—

(a) where more than one person is a customer (however defined for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations to which this paragraph applies) in respect of a particular premises by virtue of receiving a shared supply of gas or electricity through a shared meter, the supplier discharges its obligations in respect of all of those customers, so far as those obligations arise in relation to those premises, by fulfilling its obligations to any one of those customers; and

(b) any reference to a customer (however defined for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations to which this paragraph applies) includes any person who the supplier reasonably believes has authority to represent the customer (except where the reference to a customer relates to the entitlement to any payment due from a supplier under these Regulations).

(1)

1989 c.29.

(2)

1986 c.44.

(3)

Section 17 was substituted by paragraph 13 of Schedule 3 to the Gas Act 1995; there are other amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(4)

S.I. 2008/2268, as amended by S.I. 2014/2378.

(5)

1971 c.80.