Electricity Act 1957

14 Tariffs and special agreements

(1) The following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (1) of section thirty-seven of the principal Act (which relates to the prices to be charged by the Central Authority):—

“(1) The prices to be charged by the Generating Board for the supply of electricity by them to Area Boards shall be in accordance with such tariffs as may be fixed from time to time by the Generating Board after consultation with the Electricity Council; and different tariffs may be fixed for different Area Boards”.

(2) In subsection (3) of the said section thirty-seven (which relates to the prices to be charged by Area Boards), the following words shall be substituted for the words from the beginning of the subsection to the words " fixed from time to time by them " :—

“Subject to the provisions of the Electricity Act, 1957, with respect to railways, the prices to be charged by an Area Board for the supply of electricity by them shall be in accordance with such tariffs as may be fixed from time to time by them after consultation with the Consultative Council established for their area and with the Electricity Council”.

(3) Where a consumer has requested an Area Board to enter into an agreement with him under subsection (7) of the said section thirty-seven (under which Area Boards are empowered to enter into special agreements with consumers), or to renew an agreement entered into under that subsection, or to vary the terms of such an agreement, and the Board—

(a) have refused to comply with that request, or

(b) have refused to comply with it except on terms which are not acceptable to the consumer,

the consumer may refer the matter to the Consultative Council established for the area of that Board.

(4) The grounds on which a consumer may refer a matter to a Consultative Council under the last preceding subsection are as follows, that is to say.—

(a) where the consumer's request to the Board to enter into or renew an agreement has been refused, that, owing to special circumstances, the tariffs in force in the area are not appropriate to him ;

(b) where the consumer's request to the Board to vary the terms of an agreement have been refused, that, owing to a change of circumstances since the agreement was made, its terms have ceased to be reasonable;

(c) in any other case, that the terms proposed by the Board are unreasonable.

(5) Where a matter is referred to a Consultative Council under subsection (3) of this section, then, without prejudice to any functions of the Consultative Council or of the Electricity Council under section seven of the principal Act.—

(a) if it appears to the Consultative Council that the consumer has established to their satisfaction the grounds on which the matter was referred to them, the Council shall notify their conclusions to the consumer and to the Area Board;

(b) if it appears to the Consultative Council that the consumer has not so established those grounds, the Council shall notify their conclusions to the consumer;

(c) if the consumer is dissatisfied with the conclusions of the Consultative Council, or if (in a case falling within paragraph (a) of this subsection) he claims that the Area Board have failed to give effect to those conclusions, he may refer the matter to the Electricity Council, on the same grounds as those on which the matter was referred to the Consultative Council, subject to any modifications which may be appropriate in view of any subsequent proposal of the Area Board; and

(d) if it appears to the Electricity Council, after consultation with the Area Board and with the Consultative Council, that the consumer has established to the satisfaction of the Electricity Council the grounds on which the matter was referred to them, the Electricity Council may give to the Area Board such advice as they may consider appropriate in the circumstances.

(6) Any reference in this section to a refusal to comply with a request includes a reference to a failure to comply with it within a reasonable time after the request is made.