The Electricity and Gas (Energy Efficiency Obligations) (Amendment) Order 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Article 2 of the Electricity and Gas (Energy Efficiency Obligations) Order 2001 imposes on certain electricity and gas suppliers an obligation to achieve within a period of three years beginning on 1st April 2002 a target (to be determined by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority) for promotion of improvements in energy efficiency. By virtue of section 33BC(2) of the Gas Act 1986, section 41A(2) of the Electricity Act 1989 and article 6(1) of the 2001 Order, any activity that produces, or may reasonably be expected to produce, an improvement in the efficiency in the use by consumers of gas conveyed through pipes, electricity or any of the other sources of energy specified in article 1(3) of the 2001 order is action which qualifies for the purpose of meeting the whole or any part of a supplier’s target.

However, article 6(2) of the 2001 order requires each supplier to secure that at least 50 per cent of the energy savings attributable to the activity that it carries on with a view to complying with its target is achieved in relation to domestic consumers who are in receipt of at least one of the benefits listed in Schedule 2 to the 2001 Order. This Order amends the 2001 order so that the following new benefits are also relevant for these purposes—

(a) state pension credit; and

(b) in the case of domestic consumers whose income is less than £14,200, child tax credit and working tax credit (article 2(1) to (3) and (5)).

This Order also corrects the statutory references given in article 12(1)(a) and (b) of the 2001 Order to a “relevant requirement” in Part I of the Electricity Act 1989 in relation to an electricity supplier, and in Part I of the Gas Act 1986 in relation to a gas supplier (article 2(4)).