S.I. No. 833/2004 - Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Electricity) Levy Order 2004

The Commission for Electricity Regulation in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (No. 23 of 1999) as amended, hereby makes the following Order:

1. (1)  This Order may be cited as the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (Electricity) Levy Order 2004.

(2)  This Order shall come into operation on 31 December 2004.

(3)  The Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 (Electricity) Levy Order, 2003 ( S.I. No. 692 of 2003 ) is revoked as and from 1 January 2005.

2. (1)  In this Order—

“the Act” means the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (No. 23 of 1999) as amended;

“actual quantity” means, in relation to a relevant undertaking, the quantity of electricity, in Megawatt-hours (MWhrs), which has been generated, or supplied at the trading point, as the case may be calculated in accordance with the trading and settlement rules; in the case of ESB Public Electricity Supply (PES) the actual quantity will be the residual of electricity supplied after the independent suppliers’ demand has been deducted from the system demand calculated at the trading point;

“banking day(s)” means day(s) on which banks in Ireland generally are open for business (except in any event on Saturday or Sunday);

“the Commission” means the Commission for Energy Regulation established under the Act;

“levy year” means a calendar year;

“quarter” means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, and 31 December;

“relevant quantity” means, in relation to a relevant undertaking, the forecast quantity of electricity in MWhrs, which it is estimated, will be generated, and/or supplied at the trading point, as the case may be;

“settlement system administrator” means the transmission system operator acting in its capacity as administrator of the settlement system for the purposes of trading and settlement;

“trading point” means the notional point where electricity is traded for the purposes of settlement under the trading and settlement code taken to be the boundary between the transmission and distribution systems;

“vertically integrated undertaking” means an undertaking performing two or more of the functions of generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity;

and any cognate words shall be construed accordingly.

(2) In this Order—

(a)  all words and expressions defined in the Act shall have the same meanings when used in this Order;

(b)  a reference to legislation is a reference to that legislation as amended from time to time;

(c)  a reference to an article or schedule is to an article of, or schedule to, this Order unless it is indicated that reference to some other Order is intended;

(d)  a reference to a sub-article is to the sub-article of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3. This Order shall apply to the classes of electricity undertakings set out in the Schedule to this Order (“relevant undertakings”).

4. (1)  A levy is hereby imposed on each relevant undertaking. This levy will be payable in respect of each levy year.

(2)  The levy imposed by sub-article (1) shall be payable in quarterly instalments no later than—

(a)  31 January 2005 in respect of the first quarter in the levy year of 2005; or

(b)  the last day of the first month of each subsequent quarter in a levy year.

5. (1) The levy imposed shall be payable by the relevant undertaking separately for each activity of generation, transmission, distribution or supply, as the case may be, that is carried out by the relevant undertaking in Ireland.

(2) The amount of the levy imposed on a relevant undertaking in respect of any quarter shall be as follows:

(i) in the case of the transmission system operator, licensed under section 14(1)(e) of the Act, a fixed payment of €242,219;

(ii) in the case of the transmission system owner, licensed under section 14(1)(f) of the Act, a fixed payment of €242,219;

(iii) in the case of the distribution system operator, licensed under section 14(1)(g) of the Act, a fixed payment of €484,439;

(iv) in the case of a generator connected to the distribution system and where each generating unit does not exceed 10MW and where the aggregate of generating units at any one site is less than 30MW, 6.90 cent per MWhr at the trading point, rounded to the nearest euro, payable on the relevant quantity for that quarter plus the difference between the actual quantity and the relevant quantity for the previous quarter;

(v)  in the case of a generator not included in (iv) 7.49 cent per MWhr at the trading point, rounded to the nearest euro, payable on the relevant quantity for that quarter plus the difference between the actual quantity and the relevant quantity for the previous quarter;

(vi)  in the case of a supplier 7.49 cent per MWhr of aggregated demand at the trading point, rounded to the nearest euro, payable on the relevant quantity for that quarter plus the difference between the actual quantity and the relevant quantity for the previous quarter.

6.  (1) Generators and suppliers shall—

(a)  no later than the first day of each quarter, submit to the Commission a statement of the relevant quantity for that quarter; and thereafter;

(b)  within 25 working days of the end of each quarter, submit to the Commission a statement:

(i)  in the case of generators, certified by the settlement system administrator, of the actual quantity for the relevant undertaking in the previous quarter;

(ii) in the case of suppliers licensed under section 14 of the Act, certified by the settlement system administrator, of the actual quantity for the relevant undertaking in the previous quarter;

(iii) in the case of ESB Public Electricity Supply (PES), certified by the settlement system administrator, of the actual quantity in the previous quarter.

(2)  Where a relevant undertaking does not submit a statement of the relevant quantity in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) the amount payable for that quarter shall be 115% of the relevant quantity for the previous quarter. This shall not apply to the first quarter where such a statement is required.

(3) Where the amount paid by the relevant undertaking in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 in respect of the relevant quantity in any quarter is less than the actual quantity by reference to the said statement of actual quantity, the relevant undertaking concerned shall pay to the Commission the balance of the amount payable on the last day of the first month of the following quarter.

(4) Where the amount paid by a relevant undertaking in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 in respect of any quarter is more than the amount payable by reference to the said statement of actual quantity, the Commission shall make an adjustment to the amount payable by the relevant undertaking in the following quarter.

7. (1) Where any amount falling to be paid under Article 5 is not paid within the period for payment specified in Article 4, interest thereon shall accrue at the prescribed interest rate compounded monthly from the date when such payment is due until the same is made.

(2) In this Regulation, “the prescribed interest rate” means a rate 2 per cent per annum above the Euribor rate.

8. (1) All payments shall be made in Euro on the due date by direct bank transfer or equivalent instantaneous transfer of funds to the bank account specified by the Commission.

(2) Relevant undertakings shall notify the Commission as soon as payment has been made, indicating the date on which payment was made and the name of the bank effecting payment.

(3) A request for payment by the Commission to the relevant undertakings under this Order shall be made to the relevant undertaking in accordance with Section 4 of the Act.

SCHEDULE

The relevant undertakings for the purposes of this Levy Order are a class consisting of:

•  any holders of a licence granted under Section 14 of the Act or a permit under Section 37 of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927 , and

•  vertically integrated undertakings in the electricity market without a licence under the Act, or a permit under Section 37 of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

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

This order imposes a levy on certain specified classes of electricity undertakings, for the purpose of meeting expenses properly incurred by the Commission for Energy Regulation in the discharge of its functions under the Act.