Explanatory note

This Order amends the Gas (Extent of Domestic Supply Licences) Order 1996, under which competition in the supply of gas through pipes to premises at rates not expected to exceed 2,500 therms a year is to be introduced in stages. Provision was made in article 3 of that Order for an initial stage, during which any duly authorised supplier could supply gas to premises in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset, to begin on 29th April 1996, and a second stage, during which premises in Kent, Dorset, East and West Sussex and the former county of Avon could be supplied, to begin on a date during 1997 to be determined by the Director General of Gas Supply (or on 31 December 1997 if no such determination were made). This Order replaces the original provision for the second stage with provision for the introduction of competition in Dorset and the former county of Avon on 10th February 1997 and in the other counties referred to above on 7th March 1997. It also makes minor consequential amendments.