House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2007 - 08
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Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 11th March 2008
33

Energy Bill, continued

prescribed by regulation setting the maximum amount of carbon dioxide

that may be emitted from a generating station.”’.

Notices

John Robertson

Not called  NC19

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
Section 31 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17) (section 29 notices: supplementary

provisions) is amended as follows.

(2)
After subsection (2) insert—

“(2A)
Subject to subsection (3), the Secretary of State shall not give a notice

under section 29(1) in relation to an offshore installation to a person

within paragraph (b) or (c) of section 30(1) unless the person owns or has

owned any interest in the offshore installation.”’.

Implementation of new metering arrangements

Steve Webb

Martin Horwood

Not called  NC20

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The relevant licensees for the purposes of this Part are—

(a)
gas suppliers and gas transporters within the meaning of Part 1 of the Gas

Act 1986 (c. 44); and

(b)
electricity suppliers and electricity distributors within the meaning of

Part 1 of the Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29).

(2)
The effective date for the purposes of this Part is the date which is 10 years after

the date on which section 79 comes into force.

(3)
Expressions used in this Part have the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Gas Act

1986 or Part 1 of the Electricity Act 1989.

(4)
As from the effective date, a relevant licensee must not supply gas or electricity

to any premises that is not subject to the provisions of this section.

(5)
The Secretary of State may exempt any relevant licensee from the prohibition

imposed by subsection (4) in relation to such premises, for such period of time,

and subject to such conditions as he considers appropriate in all the circumstances

of the case.

(6)
References in this Part to new metering arrangements are to arrangements

(including the provision and operation of any necessary communications and

data-handling infrastructure) designed to ensure that, by the effective date, all

premises supplied with gas or electricity in Great Britain will continue to be so

supplied through a meter that conforms to the following three requirements—

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 11th March 2008
34

Energy Bill, continued

(a)
that the meter must record and be able to store measured consumption

data for multiple time periods;

(b)
that the meter, either on its own or with an ancillary device, must

facilitate remote access to such data; and

(c)
that the meter must meet any specifications that may be set out in any

regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Part, pursuant to his

duties under Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986 and Part 1 of the Electricity Act

1989, for the purposes of facilitating the introduction of new metering

arrangements.

(7)
This section may not be brought into force before 1st January 2010.

(8)
The Secretary of State may, in accordance with this section, modify—

(a)
the conditions of a particular licence held under section 7(1) or 7A(1) or

(2) of the Gas Act 1986 or under section 6(1) of the Electricity Act 1989;

(b)
the standard conditions of licences of any type mentioned in those

subsections


if he considers it necessary or expedient to do so for the purpose of securing the

implementation of the provisions of this section.

(9)
The power to make modifications under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (8)

includes powers—

(a)
to make modifications requiring licence holders, or classes of licence

holder, to cooperate together, under arrangements approved by the

Authority;

(b)
to make modifications requiring any relevant licensee to take or refrain

from taking any specified action, whether in relation to premises supplied

with gas or electricity or otherwise;

(c)
to make modifications relating to the operation of, access to, or use of

pipe-line systems and distribution systems; and

(d)
to make incidental, consequential, or transitional modifications.

(10)
Before making modifications under this section, the Secretary of State must

consult the Authority, the holder of any licence being modified, and such other

persons as he considers appropriate.

(11)
Subsection (10) may be satisfied by consultation undertaken before, as well as by

consultation undertaken after, the commencement of this section.

(12)
Any modification under subsection (8)(b) of part of a standard condition of a

licence shall not prevent any other part of the condition from continuing to be

regarded as a standard condition for the purposes of Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986 or

Part 1 of the Electricity Act 1989.

(13)
Where the Secretary of State modifies the standard conditions of licences of any

type under subsection (8)(b), the Authority must make the same modifications of

those standard conditions for the purposes of their incorporation into licences of

that type granted after that time.

(14)
The Secretary of State must publish any modifications under this section in such

manner as he considers appropriate.

(15)
The power of the Secretary of State under this section may not be exercised after

the end of the period of five years beginning with the passing of this Act.’.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 11th March 2008
35

Energy Bill, continued

Reports on meters

Paddy Tipping

Dr Alan Whitehead

Dr Brian Iddon

Not called  NC21

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State shall, in each calendar year following that in which this

Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on—

(a)
the number of smart meters that have been installed in that period,

including their effect on reducing carbon emissions and fuel bills;

(b)
the discussions he has held with energy supply companies about—

(i)
pre-payment meters,

(ii)
the number of such meters in use, and

(iii)
their tariffs;

(c)
the progress that has been made in reducing carbon emissions through—

(i)
increased use of renewable generation, and

(ii)
energy conservation measures in households;

(d)
the discussions he has held with energy supply companies about the

impact of pre-payment meters and their tariffs.’.

Nuclear skills

Charles Hendry

Mr John Baron

Not selected  NC22

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State shall, in each calendar year following that in which this

Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on—

(a)
his assessment of the skills base with regard to—

(i)
nuclear science,

(ii)
the decommissioning of nuclear plants, and

(iii)
the disposal of nuclear waste;

(b)
his proposals for developing that skills based to meet anticipated need.’.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Funding

Steve Webb

Martin Horwood

Not called  NC23

To move the following Clause:—

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 11th March 2008
36

Energy Bill, continued

‘(1)
Section 22 of the Energy Act 2004 (expenditure and receipts of NDA) is amended

as follows.

(2)
After subsection (5) insert—

“(6)
The Secretary of State may make regulations to include the value of grant

payments made by him to the NDA under this section in ‘funded

decommissioning programmes’, as defined in section 41 of the Energy

Act 2008.”’.

Nuclear Installations Inspectorate

Charles Hendry

Mr John Baron

Not selected  NC24

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State shall, in each calendar year following that in which this

Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on—

(a)
his assessment of the appropriate levels of staff and resources in the

Nuclear Installations Inspectorate,

(b)
the progress that has been made towards reaching that target, and

(c)
the effect on progress towards approval of new nuclear reactors.’.

Energy usage in homes and businesses

Charles Hendry

Mr John Baron

Negatived on division  NC25

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State shall, in each calendar year following that in which this

Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on—

(a)
total energy consumption in domestic housing,

(b)
total energy consumption by businesses, and

(c)
the impact of government measures to assist energy efficiency.’.

Duty in relation to electromagnetic fields

Dr Brian Iddon

Dr Stephen Ladyman

Not selected  NC26

To move the following Clause:—

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 11th March 2008
37

Energy Bill, continued

‘(1)
The Electricity Act 1989 is amended as follows.

(2)
After section 37(3) insert—

“(3A)
In granting consent under this section, the Secretary of State must ensure

that he does not expose any person to any risk to their health arising from

exposure to electric and magnetic fields with a frequency of between 30

and 300 Hertz.”’.

Malcolm Wick

That certain written evidence already reported to the House be appended to the

proceedings of the Committee.

                                                               Agreed to

Bill, as amended, to be reported.