No representations or objections were received in response to the proposal to revoke the confirmed provisional Order.
On 29 April 2019, The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority ('the Authority') confirmed a Revocation Order under section 25(7)(c) of the Electricity Act 1989 and section 28(7)(c) of the Gas Act 1986. The Authority decided that the terms of the provisional order were no longer requisite for the purpose of ensuring npower Direct Limited, npower Limited, npower Northern Limited, npower Northern Supply Limited, npower Yorkshire Limited, npower Yorkshire Supply Limited’s (together, ‘npower’) compliance with SLC 32A, having established that npower has now complied with the direction requiring their participation in the Active Choice Collective Switch Autumn Trial ("the trial").
The provisional order is no longer in place.
On 13 March 2019, the Authority decided to publish its notice of proposal to revoke the confirmed provisional order imposed on npower dated 26 November 2018. The Authority was satisfied that the terms of the provisional order were no longer requisite for the purpose of ensuring npower’s compliance with SLC 32A, having established that npower had complied with the direction requiring its participation in the Active Choice Collective Switch Autumn Trial ("the trial").
The Authority gave this notice in accordance with section 26(6) of the Electricity Act and section 29(5) of the Gas Act.
Any representations or objections with respect to the proposed confirmation were to be made to the Authority by 15 April 2019.
On 21 December 2018, the High Court issued its decision to dismiss npower’s claim for a judicial review on our decision that npower should work with us on our ongoing trial of simplified collective switching. The High Court judgment can be found below.
On 26 November 2018, the Authority decided to confirm, with the modifications set out in the notice of 31 October 2018, the provisional order dated 24 September 2018 (now known as the ‘confirmed provisional order’). In confirming the provisional order, the Authority was satisfied that npower was contravening or was likely to contravene the requirements of SLC 32A and the provisions made by the order were still requisite for the purpose of ensuring npower complied with this condition. The Authority’s reasons for making the decision to confirm the provisional order are set out in the document below.
On 31 October 2018, the Authority published its notice of proposal to confirm, with modifications, the provisional order dated 24 September 2018 imposed on npower following its provisional decision that npower is contravening or is likely to contravene the requirements of SLC 32A. The Authority proposed to confirm the order in the Notice of proposal to confirm the provisional order.
The Authority gave notice that in accordance with section 26(1) of the Electricity Act and section 29(1) of the Gas Act:
On 24 September 2018, The Authority issued a provisional order to npower Direct Limited, npower Limited, npower Northern Limited, npower Northern Supply Limited, npower Yorkshire Limited, npower Yorkshire Supply Limited (together, ‘npower’), in accordance with Section 25(2) of the Electricity Act 1989 and Section 28(2) of the Gas Act 1986. The Authority had been in discussions with npower regarding compliance with its obligations under:
Standard condition 32A of the gas and electricity supply licences (referred to as ‘SLC’ 32A).
The particular behaviour of concern giving rise to the provisional order was that npower had refused to comply with the direction requiring its participation in the Active Choice Collective Switch Autumn Trial. The trial is a flagship Ofgem policy in response to the recommendations made by the CMA following the Energy Market Investigation.