Electricity Order 1992 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations partially implement as respects Northern Ireland Council and European Parliament Directive No. 96/92/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (O.J. No. L27, 30.1.97, p. 20).

Part I contains certain introductory provisions.

Part II amends the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”), as follows—

(a) regulation 4 inserts a definition of the Directive in Article 3 of the 1992 Order (Interpretation of Part II);

(b) regulation 5 inserts a new Article 11A in the 1992 Order requiring the inclusion of appropriate conditions in licences to ensure that the authorised activities comply with the requirements of the Directive;

(c) regulation 6 inserts a new Article 18A in the 1992 Order prohibiting any licence modifications which are inconsistent with the requirements of the Directive; and

(d) regulation 7 amends Article 39 of the 1992 Order by prohibiting the grant by the Department of its consent for the construction or extension of a generating station unless it is satisfied that the station meets certain specified criteria.

Part III provides for the modification of existing licences to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Directive (regulation 8).

It also requires the Department and the Director to comply with their general duties as set out in Article 4 and 6 of the 1992 Order, respectively, in exercising their functions under that Part of the Regulations (regulation 9).

The Department has prepared a Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations and a copy is held at Netherleigh, Massey Avenue, Belfast BT4 2JP, from where copies may be obtained, on request.