Energy Act 1976

Permanent and reserve powers for energy conservation and control

General control by order

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• (1) The Secretary of State may by order provide for regulating or prohibiting the production, supply, acquisition or use of—

• (a) any of the following substances, namely—

• (i) crude liquid petroleum, natural gas and petroleum products;

• (ii) any substance, whether solid, liquid or gaseous, not falling within sub-paragraph (i) above but used as fuel, whether for the propulsion of vehicles or for any other purposes;

• (b) electricity.

• (2) Orders under subsection (1) above regulating or prohibiting the use of any of the substances mentioned in the subsection, or of electricity, may be made at any time but only where it appears to the Secretary of State to be desirable for the purpose of conserving energy.

Subject to this, orders under the subsection may be made only when an Order in Council under section 3 of this Act is in force.

• (3) When no Order in Council under section 3 is in force the Secretary of State shall before making an order under subsection (1) consult with organisations in the United Kingdom appearing to him to represent those who will be affected by the order, including both consumers and suppliers of energy, and such other organisations as he thinks appropriate.

• (4) The Secretary of State may by order provide for regulating the price at which crude liquid petroleum, natural gas or petroleum products may be supplied.

This power is exercisable at any time in the case of petroleum products, but otherwise is exercisable only when an Order in Council under section 3 is in force.

Reserve power to control by government directions

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• (1) When an Order in Council under section 3 of this Act is in force the Secretary of State may give directions—

• (a) to any person carrying on an undertaking in the course of which he produces any substance mentioned in section 1(1) above, as to the production and use of that substance;

• (b) to any person carrying on an undertaking in the course of which he supplies any such substance, as to the supply by him of that substance; and

• (c) to any person carrying on an undertaking which involves the use of any such substance, as to the use by him of that substance for the purposes of the undertaking.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above—

• (a) a direction under subsection (1)(a) may prohibit or restrict the use of any material for the production of a substance mentioned in section 1(1) and may extend to the disposal of stocks of such a substance or of any such material;

• (b) a direction under subsection (1)(b) may—

• (i) prohibit or restrict the supply (anywhere in the world) of any such substance to specified persons, and

• (ii) require the supply (anywhere in the world) of any such substance to specified persons in accordance with specified requirements, including, in the case of crude liquid petroleum, natural gas or petroleum products, requirements as to price; and

• (c) a direction under subsection (1)(c) may prohibit or restrict the use of any substance mentioned in section 1(1) for specified purposes or during specified periods.

• (3) In this section “specified” means specified by the Secretary of State’s directions.

• (4) This section (except subsection (2)(b)(ii) so far as it relates to requirements as to price) applies in relation to electricity as it applies in relation to the substances mentioned in section 1(1).

Implementation of reserve powers

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• (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council declare the powers of sections 1 and 2 above exercisable to their fullest extent because either—

• (a) they are required for the implementation of obligations incumbent on the United Kingdom as a member of ... the International Energy Agency or a party to the International Energy Agreement to take emergency measures in connection with the reduction, or threatened reduction, of fuel supplies; or

• (b) there exists or is imminent in the United Kingdom an actual or threatened emergency affecting fuel or electricity supplies which makes it necessary in Her Majesty’s opinion that the government should temporarily have at its disposal exceptional powers for controlling the sources and availability of energy;

and any such Order shall be laid before Parliament after it is made.

• (2) An Order in Council under subsection (1) above, if made by virtue of paragraph (b) of the subsection, shall cease to be in force on the expiration of the period of 28 days beginning on the date on which it was made, unless before the end of that period it is approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

In reckoning that period no account is to be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, or during which the House of Commons is adjourned for more than 4 days.

• (3) An Order in Council under subsection (1) may in any case be revoked by a subsequent Order in Council declaring Her Majesty’s opinion that the circumstances which led to the making of the earlier Order no longer obtain.

• (4) Without prejudice to subsections (2) and (3) above, an Order made by virtue of subsection (1)(b) shall cease to be in force at the end of the 12 months beginning with the date on which it was made, unless before then both Houses of Parliament have resolved that it be continued for a further period of 12 months.

• (5) An Order may be continued in force under subsection (4) more than once; and on each occasion after the first that subsection applies with the substitution for the period of 12 months there specified of a period of 12 months beginning with the date on which, but for the resolutions of Parliament, the Order would have ceased to be in force.

Other powers

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• (1) A person supplying or using a substance mentioned in section 1(1) above may, if authorised to do so by the Secretary of State by any general or special authority granted for the purpose, and while acting in accordance with that authority, disregard or fall short in discharging any obligation imposed by or under an enactment, or any contractual obligation, relating to or involving the supply or use of that substance.

This subsection has effect only at a time when there is in force an Order in Council under section 3(1).

• (2) At any time when such an Order in Council is in force, the Secretary of State may grant, or enable any person to grant on his behalf, a general or special authority for the doing, during the whole or any part of the period for which the Order remains in force, of all or any of the things mentioned in Schedule 1 to this Act (relaxations of road traffic and transport law).

• (3) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make provision for modifying or excluding any obligation or restriction imposed, or extending any power conferred, by or under an enactment which directly or indirectly affects the use of a substance mentioned in section 1(1).

• (4) While an Order in Council is in force under section 3(1)—

• (a) subsection (3) above has effect as if for “affects the use” there were substituted “affects the supply or use”; and

• (b) without prejudice to the generality of the subsection, the powers under it extend to making such provision for modifying an order under section 2 of the Counter-Inflation Act 1973 as appears to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of price controls under this Act.

• (5) This section applies in relation to electricity as it applies in relation to substances mentioned in section 1(1).

Temporary relief from restrictive practices law

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Maintenance of fuel reserves

Bulk stocks of petroleum, etc.

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• (1) Directions under this section may be given to any person who in the course of an undertaking carried on by him produces, supplies or uses crude liquid petroleum, or petroleum products.

• (2) The Secretary of State may—

• (a) direct any such person to make such arrangements with respect to his United Kingdom stocks of crude liquid petroleum, or of petroleum products, as will—

• (i) enable those stocks to be brought within a specified time to, and thereafter maintained at, a specified level, and

• (ii) ensure that they do not fall below that level, except as may be permitted by the terms of the direction or by authority of the Secretary of State;

• (b) in the case of any such person who is a substantial supplier to the United Kingdom market, direct him to create such stocks and make such arrangements with respect to them.

• (3) In giving such directions, the Secretary of State shall have regard in particular to—

• (a) the quantities of crude liquid petroleum, or of petroleum products, which have been supplied by the undertaking to the United Kingdom market in past periods; and

• (b) the extent to which crude liquid petroleum and petroleum products produced or supplied by the undertaking are, or will be, indigenous.

“Indigenous”, in relation to crude liquid petroleum, means won under the authority of licences granted under United Kingdom legislation, and in relation to petroleum products means produced in the United Kingdom from indigenous crude.

• (4) A direction given to a person under this section may require a specified portion of his stocks to be held in Northern Ireland.

• (5) Before giving a direction under this section the Secretary of State shall notify the substance of the proposed direction to the person to whom he proposes to give it and shall afford him a reasonable opportunity to make representations.

• (6) In this section “specified” means specified by the Secretary of State’s direction; and the Secretary of State may by order prescribe, as respects the effect of, and compliance with, directions under this section—

• (a) the cases and circumstances in which stocks (in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) are to be treated, in relation to any person, as his United Kingdom stocks, and those in which a person is to be treated as a substantial supplier to the United Kingdom market;

• (b) the extent to which stocks of a particular kind are to count towards compliance with a direction specifying stocks of another kind; and

• (c) the method by which quantities are to be measured for different purposes.

Fuel stocks at power stations

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Offshore natural gas

Supply of offshore natural gas

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Use and liquefaction of offshore natural gas

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Supplementary provisions as to consents

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• (1) The Secretary of State's consent under section 8 or 9 may be given either with reference to particular cases or by means of orders of general application.

• (2) A specific consent given to any person under either of those sections (that is to say, a consent given to him otherwise than by an order of general application) is irrevocable and may be given for a specified period or indefinitely.

• (3) Where consent under those sections has been given by an order of general application, any person who proposes to undertake a supply, use or process of liquefaction which is covered by that general consent may notify the Secretary of State of his proposal (in the manner specified by the order), whereupon subsection (2) above applies as if specific consent either unlimited in duration or, if the order so provides, for the period there specified, had been given to him for that supply, use or process of liquefaction.

• (4) The Secretary of State's consent when given under section 9(2) may in any case be made subject to the following conditions only, that is to say—

• (a) such conditions as appear to him necessary for securing the continued availability for industrial or agricultural purposes of supplies of any products which the gas is used to produce ;

• (b) conditions requiring the provision of information as to the origin and use of the gas.

• (5) Otherwise, the consent of the Secretary of State or of the British Gas Corporation under section 8 or 9 may in any case be made subject to conditions which may, in particular, be framed by reference to the description or origin of the gas, or the quantities to be supplied, used or disposed of, or the manner of supply or use.

• (6) References in section 9(1) and (5) to consent under section 8 include compliance with any conditions subject to which that consent was given.

Interpretation of ss.8 to 10

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• (1) In sections 8 to 10 and this section—

• (a) " offshore natural gas " means natural gas won under the authority of licences under the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934, as applied by section 1(3) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964, but does not include gas derived from offshore crude otherwise than as a byproduct of crude stabilisation ;

• (b) in relation to offshore natural gas, " the licensees " are those who won it under such authority ;

• (c) " offshore crude " means crude liquid petroleum won under such authority ; and

• (d) " crude stabilisation" means the treating of offshore crude to enable it to be safely stored or transported.

• (2) In sections 8 to 10 and this section references to supply or use for industrial purposes are to supply or use for the purposes of any of the activities described in any of the minimum list headings in Orders II to XIX (inclusive) and XXI of the Standard Industrial Classification.

• (3) Industrial fuel purposes are industrial purposes which consist of or include the use of gas as a fuel; and for the purpose of determining whether any industrial purposes are industrial fuel purposes the use of any gas or liquid derived otherwise than as a by-product from the gas in question shall be treated as the use of that gas.

• (4) The use of gas to provide heat or energy is not use for industrial fuel purposes if it is—

• (a) for a process in which the gas is used otherwise than as a fuel;

• (b) where such a process is one of a series, for any further process in the same series other than a process in which a bulk product is converted into manufactured articles;

• (c) for a process of crude stabilisation ;

• (d) for a process of purification or fractionation of offshore natural gas;

• (e) in connection with the movement of offshore crude or offshore natural gas by pipe-line or otherwise,

and supply for any such use shall not be treated as supply for industrial fuel purposes.

• (5) Any question whether the purposes for which gas is to be supplied or used are industrial purposes or industrial fuel purposes, shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

• (6) For the purposes of sections 8 to 10 companies are associated together in the same group if one is a subsidiary of the other or both are subsidiaries of a third (" subsidiary " having the same meaning as in the Companies Act 1948).

Other measures for controlling energy sources and promoting economy : Secretary of State's functions

Disposal of gas by flaring, etc.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (3) below, the Secretary of State’s consent is required for natural gas to be disposed of (whether at source or elsewhere) by flaring or by releasing it unignited into the atmosphere.

• (2) This section applies to all natural gas of the United Kingdom, whether obtained there or in territorial waters, or in areas designated under the Continental Shelf Act 1964, except gas conveyed through pipes to premises by a public gas transporterwithin the meaning of Part I of the Gas Act 1986

• (2A) Disposal of gas by flaring, or by releasing it unignited into the atmosphere, does not require consent under this section if consent—

• (a) is required under section 12A (disposal of gas by flaring etc: OGA's functions), or

• (b) would be required under that section but for subsection (3) of that section.

• (3) Disposal of gas by flaring does not require consent under this section—

• (a) if it is permitted under the terms of a production licence granted under United Kingdom legislation;

• (b) if it is of refinery tail gas produced in refining crude liquid petroleum (and “refining” here does not include the treatment of crude for the sole purpose of enabling it to be safely stored or transported);

• (c) if it is necessary in connection with the start-up or shut-down of manufacturing plant; or

• (d) if it is necessary in the interests of the safety of such plant; or

• (e) if it is necessary in order to comply with a requirement imposed by or under any enactment.

• (4) In this section “manufacturing plant” means plant used for any of the activities referred to in any of the minimum list headings in Orders III to XIX (inclusive) of the Standard Industrial Classification.

• (5) The Secretary of State’s consent under this section—

• (a) may be given either with reference to particular cases or by means of orders of general application; and

• (b) may in any case be made subject to conditions which may, in particular, be framed by reference to the description or origin of the gas, or the quantities to be disposed of.

Restriction on obligation to supply gas

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Fuelling of new and converted power stations

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Passenger car fuel consumption

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• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Secretary of State may in relation to passenger cars make orders—

• (a) requiring fuel consumption to be determined by means of officially approved tests; and

• (b) providing for test results, showing the consumption of different classes or descriptions of cars in standard conditions, to be recorded in official fuel economy certificates and published in the specified manner.

• (2) The orders may provide—

• (a) for requiring manufacturers or importers of cars to carry out officially approved tests, or to arrange for such tests to be carried out (by making available a car to officers of the Secretary of State’s department for that purpose, or otherwise);

• (b) for tests to be repeated from time to time with a view to the issue, where appropriate, of amended or amplified certificates;

• (c) for payment of fees in connection with testing; and