Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2005/699), which prescribe the sums that electricity suppliers and distributors must pay to a customer by way of compensation for failure to meet specified standards of performance in respect of the services to be provided by such suppliers or distributors, subject to certain exemptions.

The main changes are—

• amending the guaranteed standards of performance under severe weather conditions by reducing the additional payment intervals from 12 to 6 hours, with the compensation payable halved for each individual payment interval,

• updating the overall regulations to allow all prescribed payments to be made by bank transfer,

• increasing the prescribed sums and the prescribed caps for severe weather events, and

• introducing a mechanism for the prescribed sums and the prescribed caps to change in line with CPIH and rounded to the nearest £5.

These Regulations amend the Electricity (Connection Standards of Performance) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/698), which prescribe the sum that an electricity distributor must pay to a customer or relevant authority as appropriate by way of compensation for failure to meet specified standards of performance in respect of the connection services to be provided by electricity distributor.

The main changes are—

• updating the prescribed sums; and

• introducing a mechanism for the prescribed sums to change in line with CPIH and rounded to the nearest £5.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.