S.I. No. 174/2004 - Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Public Service Obligations) (Amendment) Order 2004

I, DERMOT AHERN, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 39 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (No. 23 of 1999) (as amended by the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 445 of 2000 ) and the Sustainable Energy Act 2002 (No. 2 of 2002) and the Communications, Energy and Geological Survey of Ireland (Transfer of Departmental and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 300 of 2002 ) (and as adapted by the Marine and Natural Resources (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 307 of 2002 )), in consideration of general social, economic and environmental factors and following consultation with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and having, in accordance with section 39 (10) of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 , given a draft of this Order to the Electricity Supply Board, being the person upon whom the obligations are to be imposed, hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Public Service Obligations) (Amendment) Order 2004.

2. In this Order “Principal Order” means the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Public Service Obligations) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 217 of 2002 ).

3. Article 2(1) of the Principal Order is amended by inserting after the definition of “AER V Notification” the following:

“‘AER VI Notification’ means the correspondence referred to in paragraph 1 of EU Commission C(2002) 3 fin dated 15 January 2002 relating to a notification to the EU Commission (Reference No. N553/2001-Ireland) pursuant to Articles 16 and 86 of the Treaty;”.

4. Article 4(1) of the Principal Order is amended—

(a) by substituting in subparagraph (bb) “the PPA concerned,” for “the PPA concerned, and”,

and

(b) by inserting after subparagraph (bb) the following:

“(bbb) as respects the obligations to be imposed pursuant to Article 6(1B), commence as respects each PPA specified in Schedule 1B on the commercial operation date applicable to the PPA concerned, and”.

5. Article 4(2) of the Principal Order is amended—

(a) in subparagraph (b) by substituting “of Schedule 1,” for “of Schedule 1, or”,

(b) in subparagraph (c) by inserting “or” after “first occurs,”,

and

(c) after subparagraph (c) by inserting the following:

“(d) whichever of the dates referred to in Article 6(5) first occurs,”.

6. Article 6 of the Principal Order is amended—

(a) by inserting after paragraph (1A) the following:

“(1B) There shall be imposed by the Commission on the Board a requirement that the Board take such steps and make such arrangements as may be necessary to have available to it and purchase electricity generated pursuant to the PPAs listed in Schedule 1B for the respective terms of those contracts.”,

and

(b) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

“(5) The period of the obligation referred to in paragraph (1B) shall, as respects an individual generating station specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1B, determine—

 (i)  on 31 December 2019, or

(ii)  on the date on which is 15 years from the date of commercial operation of the generating station concerned,

whichever first occurs.

(6) The obligation on the Board to have available to it, and purchase, as appropriate, the electricity generated by the stations specified in Schedule 1B shall not require the Board to have available to it, or purchase, as appropriate, such electricity from any individual station where the station is not generating electricity for supply to the Board.

(7) Notwithstanding Article 6(5), where a contract is specified in Schedule 1A and Schedule 1B which relates to the same generating station, the obligation of the Board shall determine on the date which is 15 years from the date of first commercial operation of the generating station concerned.”.

7. Article 8(2)(a) of the Principal Order is amended by inserting after “or the AER V Notification” the following:

“or the AER VI Notification”.

8. Article 9(3)(a) of the Principal Order is amended by inserting after “or the AER V Notification” the following:

“or the AER VI Notification”.

9. Schedule 1A of the Principal Order is amended by inserting after the matter at reference number 33 the following:

“

”.

10. The Principal Order is amended by inserting, after Schedule 1A, the matter in the Schedule to this Order as Schedule 1B to the Principal Order.

11. Paragraph 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Principal Order is amended, as respects the closure date of the Shannonbridge U1 power plant, by substituting “2004” for “2003”.

SCHEDULE 1B

Renewable, Sustainable or Alternative Energy AER VI

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Public Service Obligations) Order 2002, ( S.I. No. 445 of 2000 ), provided for the imposition on ESB of public service obligations requiring ESB to purchase, up until 31 December 2019, the output of certain peat and renewable, sustainable or alternative electricity generating stations, in the interests of security of supply and environmental protection respectively and provided for the introduction of a public service obligation (PSO) levy mechanism from 1st January 2003 to compensate the ESB for the additional costs incurred.

The Order amends the aforesaid Order to impose a PSO on the ESB requiring it to purchase the output of additional renewable sustainable or alternative electricity generating stations in the interest of environmental protection and to provide for compensating it for the additional costs incurred.

This Order also amends the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Public Service Obligations) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 217 of 2002 ) to extend the closure date of the Shannonbridge, U1 station to 2004.