Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2012

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Amendment of sections 9L, 9M and 9N and Part IIA of Act of 1999.

9.— (1) The Act of 1999 is amended—

(a) by substituting for sections 9L and 9M (inserted by Regulation 19 of the Regulations of 2009 and section 3(c) of the Act of 2010) the following:

“Energy efficient tariffs.

9L.— The Commission shall, through licence conditions, place a requirement on energy undertakings to ensure that their tariffs do not create incentives that may unnecessarily increase the volume of distributed or transmitted energy.

Informative billing.

9M.— (1) The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, having regard to subsection (2), direct an energy undertaking to comply with the requirements of subsection (5), or part thereof, from such date and in such manner as it may specify in that direction.

(2) In determining whether to issue a direction under subsection (1), the Commission shall have regard to the likely costs to the undertaking concerned of complying with such a direction and the likely energy efficiency benefits to final customers of the actions required of the undertaking concerned.

(3) Before issuing a direction under subsection (1), the Commission shall undertake a public consultation process.

(4) Nothing in this section shall affect the responsibilities or duties of an energy undertaking under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003.

(5) The Commission may, by direction under subsection (1), require an energy undertaking to do any or all of the following:

(a) provide bills to its final customers, based on actual energy use, at such frequency as may be specified by the Commission to enable those customers to regulate their own energy consumption in a timely manner;

(b) provide such information in or with a bill to its final customers that, in the opinion of the Commission provides a comprehensive account of the customer’s current energy costs;

(c) present bills to its final customers in a manner which, in the opinion of the Commission, is clear and easily understandable; or

(d) provide any or all of the following information in or with its bills, contracts, or other relevant communications, in a manner which, in the opinion of the Commission, is clear and understandable—

(i) current actual prices and actual consumption of energy,

(ii) a comparison of the final customer’s current energy consumption with that customer’s consumption for the same period in the previous year, in graphic form where the Commission considers it practicable,

(iii) a comparison of the final customer’s energy use with the energy use of an average normalised or benchmarked final customer, or

(iv) sources of information on available energy efficiency improvement measures, comparative customer profiles or objective technical specifications for energy-using equipment, including contact information and website addresses.

(6) The Commission may request that an energy undertaking provide such information, and in such format, as the Commission considers necessary for the purposes of determining whether to issue a direction under subsection (1), or for the purposes of monitoring compliance with a direction so issued.

(7) In this section a ‘bill’ includes a bill provided or made available to the final customer in electronic format.

(8) An energy undertaking that fails to comply with a direction issued by the Commission under subsection (1), or with a request under subsection (6), commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(9) Where a direction under subsection (1) or a request under subsection (6) is to be issued or given to an energy undertaking, it shall be addressed to the undertaking and shall be given to the undertaking in one of the following ways—

(a) by delivering it to the energy undertaking concerned,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the energy undertaking concerned carries on business,

(c) by sending it by post in a pre-paid registered letter addressed to the energy supplier concerned at the address at which the undertaking carries on business,

(d) if an address for the service of a direction or request has been furnished by the energy undertaking concerned, by leaving it at, or sending it by pre-paid registered post addressed to the energy undertaking at, that address, or

(e) by sending it by means of electronic mail or a facsimile machine, to a device or facility for the reception of electronic mail or facsimiles located at the address at which the energy undertaking concerned carries on business or, if an address for the service of a direction or request has been furnished by the energy undertaking concerned, that address, but only if—

(i) the recipient’s facility for the reception of electronic mail generates a message confirming a receipt of the electronic mail, or

(ii) the sender’s facsimile machine generates a message confirming successful delivery of the total number of pages of the direction or request,

and it is also given in one of the other ways mentioned in any of the preceding paragraphs.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (9), a company registered under the Companies Acts is deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body is deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

Functions of Commission under Part IIA relating to petroleum safety.

9N.— In addition to the functions conferred on it by section 9, the Commission has the functions specified in Part IIA relating to petroleum safety.”,

and

(b) in Part IIA (inserted by section 3(d) of the Act of 2010) in section 13W(10) by substituting for paragraph (d) the following:

“(d) alters, suppresses or destroys any documents, records or materials (including documents stored in non-legible form) that the person has been required to produce or may reasonably expect to be required to produce, or”.

(2) Regulation 19 of the Regulations of 2009 is revoked.