(1)If the Secretary of State considers that some customers of an energy supplier (the “disadvantaged customers”) are treated less favourably than other customers of the energy supplier (the “advantaged customers”) as respects charges for energy, the Secretary of State may by regulations make a scheme for the adjustment of charges for energy with a view to eliminating or reducing the less favourable treatment.
(2)The following provisions of this section apply for the purposes of making regulations under this section.
(3)The Secretary of State may take into account as the disadvantaged customers—
(a)some or all of the customers of a category set out in subsection (5), or
(b)any combination of such customers (whether from one or more of the categories).
(4)The Secretary of State may take into account as the advantaged customers—
(a)some or all of the customers of a category set out in subsection (5), or
(b)any combination of such customers (whether from one or more of the categories).
(5)The categories of customers mentioned in subsection (3) and (4) are—
(a)electricity customers;
(b)gas customers;
(c)electricity and gas customers.
(6)The Secretary of State may take into account—
(a)as respects a relevant electricity customer, the customer’s charges for electricity;
(b)as respects a relevant gas customer, the customer’s charges for gas;
(c)as respects a relevant electricity and gas customer, the customer’s charges for electricity, or charges for gas, or charges for electricity and gas.
(7)The Secretary of State may make such assumptions and calculations as he or she considers to be appropriate for the purposes of this section, including assumptions and calculations to enable him or her to take into account—
(a)different charges for the same kind of energy, or
(b)charges for different kinds of energy.
(8)In this section “relevant”, in relation to a customer, means a customer who is one of the disadvantaged customers or one of the advantaged customers.