The Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Pass-through Requirement and Amendment Regulations 2023

PART 1 Introductory

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Pass-through Requirement and Amendment Regulations 2023 and come into force on 24th February 2023.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, subject as follows.

(3) Part 4 extends to Northern Ireland only.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“electricity supply licence” means a licence granted under section 6(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 1989(1);

“end user” means an end user as defined in section 19(3) of the Energy Prices Act 2022 other than an excluded end user;

“energy products” means heating, hot water (or both) provided through a heat network;

“excluded end user” means a person to whom a relevant intermediary located in Northern Ireland supplies or makes available energy(2), energy products (or both) at premises located outside England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland;

“excluded person” means a person engaged in the provision of either or both of—

(a)

accommodation within the meaning of standard industrial classification divisions 55.1, 55.2, 55.3 (except relevant accommodation providers) and 55.9 (except persons providing student residences, school dormitories, workers hostels and rooming and boarding houses),

(b)

energy or energy products (or both) to such accommodation;

“heat network” means a network that, by distributing a liquid or a gas, enables the transfer of thermal energy for the purpose of supplying heating or hot water to a building or persons in that building;

“ND AFP” means an “ND AFP” as defined in the ND AFP Direction(3);

“ND AFP Direction” means the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Great Britain Direction published on 6 February 2023(4) made by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy pursuant to sections 7(3)(a) and 107 of the Electricity Act 1989(5) and condition 59 of the standard conditions of each ND AFP non-domestic electricity supplier’s electricity supply licence;

“ND AFP eligible customer” means an “eligible customer” as defined in the ND AFP Direction(6);

“ND AFP NI” means an “ND AFP” as defined in the ND AFP NI Direction(7);

“ND AFP NI Direction” means the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Northern Ireland Direction published on 6 February 2023(8) made by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy pursuant to section 22 of the Energy Prices Act 2022;

“ND AFP NI eligible customer” means an “eligible customer” as defined in the ND AFP NI Direction(9);

“ND AFP NI non-domestic electricity supplier” means a “non-domestic electricity supplier” as defined in the ND AFP NI Direction(10);

“ND AFP NI scheme benefit” means an ND AFP NI provided by an ND AFP NI non-domestic electricity supplier to an ND AFP NI eligible customer pursuant to the ND AFP NI Direction;

“ND AFP non-domestic electricity supplier” means a “non-domestic electricity supplier” as defined in the ND AFP Direction(11);

“ND AFP scheme benefit” means an ND AFP provided by an ND AFP non-domestic electricity supplier to an ND AFP eligible customer pursuant to the ND AFP Direction;

“pass-through” means the act of a relevant intermediary of passing through all or part of a scheme benefit to an end user;

“pass-through amount” means an amount, being all or part of a scheme benefit, which is passed through to an end user by a relevant intermediary pursuant to these Regulations;

“relevant accommodation providers” means—

(a)

in England, Wales or Scotland, persons providing mobile homes on protected sites as defined in the Mobile Homes Act 1983(12), or

(b)

in Northern Ireland, persons providing caravans on protected sites defined in the Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 2011(13);

“relevant intermediary” means a person to whom a scheme benefit has been provided in circumstances in which there is one or more end user other than the relevant intermediary except where that person is an excluded person, and for the purpose of regulation 3, “relevant intermediary” includes a person who will have entitlement to have a scheme benefit provided to it but to whom it has not yet been so provided;

“scheme benefit means”—

(a)

an ND AFP scheme benefit, including such a scheme benefit provided before these Regulations came into force,

(b)

an ND AFP NI scheme benefit, including such a scheme benefit provided before these Regulations came into force, or

(c)

where the end user is also a relevant intermediary, a pass-through made by virtue of these Regulations where the amount of the scheme benefit is the pass-through amount provided to the end user concerned (as intermediary),

and the amount of the scheme benefit may be an amount in pounds sterling or in pounds sterling per kWh (as appropriate) of energy or energy products (or both);

“standard industrial classification” means the Office for National Statistics’ “UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 2007 (SIC 2007)”(14);

“standard conditions” means the standard conditions of electricity supply licences incorporated by virtue of section 8A(1) of the Electricity Act 1989(15) in electricity supply licences granted or treated as granted under section 6(1)(d) of that Act;

“usage” means the quantity of—

(a)

energy in respect of which a scheme benefit has been provided, or

(b)

energy products produced using energy in respect of which a scheme benefit has been provided,

made available by a relevant intermediary to an end user.

(1)

Section 6(1)(d) was amended by S.I. 2012/2400.

(2)

Defined in section 28(4) of the Energy Prices Act 2022.

(3)

In the ND AFP Direction, “ND AFP” means “a support payment totalling £150 which a non-domestic electricity supplier is required to provide to an eligible customer pursuant to this direction”.

(4)

A hard copy of the ND AFP Direction can be obtained from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET. For an electronic copy, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-great-britain-ministerial-direction.

(5)

1989 c. 29. Section 7(3) was amended by section 32(1) and (4)(b) of the Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27).

(6)

In the ND AFP Direction, “eligible customer” means “a Non-Domestic Customer who is: (i) on the list of MPANs; and (ii) on the Qualifying Date, is party to a Non-Domestic Supply Contract or a Deemed Contract for electricity supply which relates to the Non-Domestic Premises associated with the MPAN on the list of MPANs”.

(7)

In the ND AFP NI Direction, “ND AFP” means “a support payment totalling £150 which a non-domestic electricity supplier is required to provide to an eligible customer pursuant to this direction”.

(8)

A hard copy of the ND AFP NI Direction can be obtained from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET. For an electronic copy see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-northern-ireland-ministerial-direction.

(9)

In the ND AFP NI Direction, “eligible customer” means “a non-domestic customer who takes a non-domestic electricity supply and is on the DNO list on the Qualifying Date”.

(10)

In the ND AFP NI Direction, “non-domestic electricity supplier” means “a Supplier supplying electricity to an Eligible Customer at Non-Domestic Premises”.

(11)

In the ND AFP Direction, “non-domestic electricity supplier” means “a person who holds a licence granted under section 6(1)(d) of the Act and who supplies or intends to supply electricity to Non-Domestic Customers”.

(12)

1983 c. 34. Section 5 was amended by sections 318 and 321(1) of, and Schedule 16 to the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (c. 17).

(13)

2011 c. 12 (N.I.).

(14)

Published by the Office of National Statistics. For information on how to obtain a hard copy, contact the Office for National Statistics, Classifications and Harmonisation Unit, Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales, NP10 8XG. For an electronic copy, see https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/ukstandardindustrialclassificationofeconomicactivities/uksic2007.

(15)

Section 8A was inserted by section 33 of the Utilities Act 2000.