European Communities (Internal Market in Natural Gas and Electricity) Regulations 2011.

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 630/2011
• Year: 2011

CONTENTS

Regulation

PART 1

Preliminary and General

1. Citation and commencement

2. Consent of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

3. Interpretation

PART 2

Separation of Functions of BGÉ and Gaslink and ancillary matters

Chapter 1

Establishment of ITO

4. BGÉ to form and register subsidiary company

5. Alteration of memorandum or articles not to have effect until approved by Minister

6. ITO to have supervisory body

7. Members of supervisory body of ITO

8. Board of directors, executive management, management team and employees of ITO

Chapter 2

Agreements and transfer plan

9. BGÉ and ITO to enter into agreements

10. Variation of agreements entered into, or taken to have been entered into, under Regulation 9

11. BGÉ and Gaslink to prepare plan for transfer of assets and staff to ITO

12. Minister to fix date for implementing transfer plan

13. Transfer to ITO of ownership and operation of transportation system and other matters

14. Variation of transfers by agreement

15. Proof of title by certificate

16. Right to production of documents of title

Chapter 3

Functions and characteristics of ITO

17. Purpose of ITO

18. ITO (including Distribution System Operator) to be independent of BGÉ Corporate

19. Obligations of BGÉ and ITO with respect to financing and investments

20. Centralised Funding Arrangements

Chapter 4

Obligations of ITO

21. Obligations of ITO

22. ITO to have compliance officer

23. ITO to establish and comply with compliance programme

24. Reports with respect to network development plan

25. ITO to prepare network development plan

PART 3

Transmission System Operators

26. Transmission system operators

27. Prohibition of certain transfers and sharing services

PART 4

Functions of Commission with respect to BGÉ Corporate and ITO

28. Commission to resolve disputes between BGÉ and ITO

PART 5

Certification and Designation of Transmission System Operators

29. Requirement for transmission system operators to apply for certification

30. Certification and designation of transmission system operators

31. Certification in relation to third countries

PART 6

Enforcement of these Regulations and Certification Regulations

32. Functions of Commission

33. Complaints to Commission

34. Powers of the Commission in enforcing Part 2

35. Commission may apply to High Court for compliance order

PART 7

Revocations and Consequential Amendments to Natural Gas legislation in respect of ITO

36. Revocations

37. Amendment of Gas Act 1976

38. Certain references to BGÉ and Gaslink in legislation

PART 8

Other Repeals and Consequential Amendments to Natural Gas and Electricity Legislation

39. Further amendment of Gas Act 1976

40. Amendment of Electricity Regulation Act 1999

41. Amendment of Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002

42. Amendment of European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) (Electricity Supply Board) Regulations 2008

SCHEDULE 1

Transfer of Assets, Contracts, Rights and Liabilities of BGÉ Corporate

SCHEDULE 2

Transfer of Certain BGÉ Employees

S.I. No. 630 of 2011

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (INTERNAL MARKET IN NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRICITY) REGULATIONS 2011

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 9th December, 2011.

I, PAT RABBITTE, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 20091 , save for Articles 3 and 41(1)(o) and (q) and Annex I thereto, and for the purpose of giving effect to Articles 3(4), 7(2)(j) and (k), 26(3), 35(5), 36 and 37 (except paragraph (1)(n) and (p)) of Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 20092 , hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

Preliminary and General

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Internal Market in Natural Gas and Electricity) Regulations 2011.

(2) Chapter 3 of Part 2 and Part 7 come into operation on the transfer date.

(3) Regulation 31 comes into operation on 3 March 2013.

Consent of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

2. An approval or consent by the Minister under these Regulations does not take effect until the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has concurred with the approval or consent.

Interpretation

3. (1) In these Regulations—

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

“Agency” means the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators established by Regulation (EC) No. 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 20093 ;

“assets” means any legal or equitable estate or interest (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent) in real or personal property of any description (including money), and includes securities, choses in action and documents;

“Bord Gáis Networks” means the networks division of BGÉ and includes BGÉ (UK);

“BGÉ” means Bord Gáis Éireann;

“BGÉ Corporate” means the group comprising BGÉ and any subsidiaries of BGÉ from time to time, other than the ITO and any subsidiaries of the ITO from time to time and any undertaking which the Commission determines from time to time does not form part of the vertically integrated undertaking (for the purposes of the Natural Gas Market Directive) of which BGÉ is a member, and includes any part or parts of and any member or members of that group. References in these Regulations to “BGÉ Corporate” shall, with respect to matters prior to the transfer date, include Gaslink and, with respect to matters from the transfer date, exclude Gaslink;

“BGÉ Group” means BGÉ Corporate and the ITO and any subsidiaries of the ITO from time to time;

“BGÉ Group transportation system” means the transmission systems and distribution systems of the BGÉ Group operated by the ITO or its subsidiaries following the transfer date, including any additions or alterations thereto from time to time;

“BGÉ (UK)” means BGE (UK) Limited, a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales (Registered Number: 02827969);

“board of directors”, in relation to the ITO, means the board of directors of the ITO established or required to be established in accordance with Regulation 8;

“Commission” means Commission for Energy Regulation;

“compliance programme”, in relation to the ITO, means a programme established and implemented or required to be established and implemented in accordance with Regulation 23;

“compliance officer”, in relation to the ITO, means a person appointed or required to be appointed under Regulation 22;

“control” means any rights, contracts or any other means which, either separately or in combination and having regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, confer the possibility of exercising decisive influence on an undertaking, in particular by—

(a) ownership or the right to use all or part of the assets of an undertaking, or

(b) rights or contracts which confer decisive influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the organs of an undertaking;

“customers”, in relation to a gas transmission system, means wholesale customers and, where the context so requires, includes final or end customers;

“distribution system”, in relation to natural gas, means a system for the transport of natural gas through local or regional pipelines with a view to its delivery to customers;

“Electricity Market Directive” means Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 20092;

“executive management”, in relation to the ITO, means the persons responsible for the management of the day to day activities of the ITO including the management of the transportation system and the activities necessary for the preparation of the ten year network development plan, and whose names and roles from time to time shall be notified in writing to the Commission;

“financial plan” includes any document in the nature of a financial plan, whether called a financial plan or not;

“financial and other assistance” includes the provision of funding, guarantees, indemnities, security, assurances, warranties, representations, covenants, undertakings, information and other co-operation as may be required by BGÉ and participation in cash management arrangements for the BGÉ Group;

“Gaslink” means Gaslink Independent System Operator Limited, a private limited company incorporated in Ireland (Registered Number: 447782), pursuant to Regulation 5 of the Regulations of 2005;

“Gas Acts” means Gas Acts 1976 to 2009;

“general meetings of the ITO” means general meetings as that term is used in the Companies Acts;

“industrial customer” means large industrial and commercial customers with a peak hourly demand greater than 50 Megawatt and a connection pressure of 16 barg or above;

“ITO” means the company established or required to be established by BGÉ under Regulation 4 as an independent transmission system operator and distribution system operator provided that references to the ITO in the context of an agreement entered into under Regulation 9, as varied under Regulation 10 (if so varied), or a transfer plan may as the context requires include any subsidiary of the ITO specified in that agreement or transfer plan;

“liabilities” means any liabilities, debts or obligations (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent);

“LNG’ means liquefied natural gas;

“LNG facility” has the same meaning as in the Natural Gas Market Directive;

“management team”, in relation to the ITO, means the persons directly reporting to executive management on matters related to the operation, maintenance or development of the transportation system and whose names and roles from...