Licence Lite: proposed revisions to the SLC 11.3 operating guidance
Consultation
- Upcoming
- Open
- Closed (awaiting decision)
- Closed (with decision)
- Publication date
- Closing date
- Industry sector
- Supply and Retail Market
- Decision
In 2014 we consulted on proposed revisions to the 2009 operating guidance for implementation of Standard Licence Condition (SLC) 11.3. This Licence Condition is often referred to as ‘Licence Lite’.
The specific intention of this licensing option is to address the potential barriers faced by distributed energy providers and aspiring suppliers in complying with those elements of the supply licence which involve either high costs or high levels of technical proficiency.
It allows either prospective or licensed electricity suppliers to apply for a full electricity supply licence and a direction relieving them of their obligation to be a direct party to the SLC 11.2 Codes, as long as arrangements are in place for a third party fully licensed supplier (TPLS) to discharge code compliance in these areas on their behalf.
A number of parties began expressing renewed interest in Licence Lite in 2012, and this interest – taken together with the need to update and clarify the 2009 guidance to reflect changes in the market – provided a clear rationale for the consultation.
The consultation set out a series of proposed additions, updates and clarifications to the three main components of the 2009 guidance:
- Main industry functions, activities and expectations
- Application procedures and assessment criteria
- Compliance and enforcement issues.
We received 17 responses to the consultation, and held a consultation workshop on 7 November 2014. Documents related to this workshop and all non-confidential consultation responses can be found below.
In the Decision document we set out our decisions based on responses to our consultation and our subsequent analysis.
The resulting revised guidance was published on and will take effect from 1 April 2015.
Respond name
Kate Thompson