Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Act 2007

Charges of Market Operator.

14.— The Act of 1999 is amended by the insertion after section 36 of the following sections:

“Charges of Market Operator.

36A.— (1) Subject to subsection (2), within such time as the Commission may direct, the Market Operator shall prepare a statement for the approval of the Commission setting out the basis on which charges are imposed in relation to participation in the trading arrangements under the Single Electricity Market (in this section referred to as ‘the trading arrangements’).

(2) The Commission may give directions to the Market Operator from time to time in respect of the basis for charges imposed for participation in the trading arrangements.

(3) Notwithstanding the generality of subsection (2), directions given by the Commission under this section may provide for—

(a) the methods of charging to be included in the statement to be prepared by the Market Operator,

(b) the form and extent of information to be provided by the Market Operator to persons participating in the trading arrangements,

(c) the form of charges and information about those charges to be included in the statement to be prepared by the Market Operator,

(d) the procedure to be adopted in the submission by the Market Operator of a statement of charges and the approval by the Commission of such statement, and

(e) the nature of information to be provided to persons seeking to participate in the trading arrangements, and the presentation and transparency of that information, and the Market Operator shall comply with directions given by the Commission under this section.

(4) Charges relating to participation in the trading arrangements shall be calculated in accordance with directions given by the Commission under this section so as to enable the Market Operator to recover—

(a) the costs and expenses directly or indirectly incurred in operating the trading arrangements, and

(b) a reasonable rate of return on capital expenditure included in such costs.

(5) The Commission, solely, will determine what constitutes a ‘reasonable rate of return’ referred to in subsection (4)(b).

(6) In this section and in section 36B, ‘Market Operator’ means the holder of a licence to act as the Single Electricity Market operator granted under section 14(1)(j) or a person granted an exemption from the requirement to hold such a licence pursuant to section 14(2F).

Approval by Commission of statement of charges of Market Operator.

36B.— (1) The Market Operator shall send each statement prepared in accordance with section 36A to the Commission for its approval (in this section referred to as the ‘statement’) and such statement, and in particular any charges referred to in it, shall not apply until such time as it has been approved by the Commission.

(2) The Commission shall consult with the Market Operator and have regard to any submission made by the Market Operator to the Commission prior to making a decision as to whether or not to approve, as the case may be, a statement submitted by the Market Operator to the Commission for approval.

(3) A statement and, in particular, charges referred to in it, shall not take effect until such time as it is approved by the Commission, subject to such modifications, if any, as the Commission considers appropriate.”.